Asymmetric Synthesis of Spiro[3,2'-morpholine-oxindoles] Derivatives via the [5 + 1] Annulation Reaction

An efficacious method in which BINOL-type chiral imidodiphosphoric acid catalyzed the asymmetric [5 + 1] annulation reaction of 2-pyrrolylphenol with 1-methylindoline-2,3-dione was established. The strategy tolerated a broad substrate scope, and 30 examples were obtained. A range of enantioenriched spiro[3,2'-morpholine-oxindole] derivatives which incorporate a tertiary stereocenter, with moderate to excellent yields (up to 96%) and enantioselectivities (up to 99%) under mild conditions, was delivered.

Asymmetric Sequential Michael Addition and Cyclization Reactions of 2-(2-Nitrovinyl)phenols Catalyzed by Bifunctional Amino-Squaramides

In this work, we describe the Michael addition–cyclization reaction of 2-(2-nitrovinyl)phenol with two different reactive Michael donors, which lead to chiral benzopyran derivatives. Specifically, bifunctional amino-squaramides with one or two chiral units in the side chains were evaluated as catalysts in these transformations. Furthermore, the utility of selected green solvents as reaction media for these processes was also tested. The best result was achieved with methyl-cyclopentanone-2-carboxylate as the Michael donor in ethyl (–)-l-lactate with quinine-based amino-squaramide as catalyst (yield 72%, dr >99:1, ee 99%).