Abhijnan Ray Choudhury

Deconjugated butenolides have emerged as a popular synthon for the enantioselective synthesis of γ-lactones. This review provides a comprehensive overview on the catalytic asymmetric reactions of deconjugated butenolides reported till date.

A formal umpolung strategy is presented for the enantioselective installation of an alkenyl group with a terminal double bond at a tertiary center. This one-pot two-step sequence relies on the unique features of the nitro group, which after inverting the polarity of the alkenylating agent toward the desired bond formation, itself serves as a leaving group. The application of this protocol to cyclic β-ketoesters results in densely functionalized products, bearing an all-carbon quaternary stereocenter including an alkenyl substituent with a terminal double bond, in high yields with excellent enantioselectivities.

An enantioselective dearomatization of isoquinolines has been developed using chiral anion-binding catalysis. This transformation, catalyzed by a simple and easy to prepare tert-leucine-based thiourea derivative, makes use of silyl phosphite as a nucleophile and generates cyclic α-aminophosphonates. This is the first time asymmetric anion-binding catalysis has been applied to the synthesis of α-aminophosphonates.