Conjugate Addition Catalyzed by Chiral Lithium Amides

Significance

While the stereoselective conjugate addition of various nucleophiles to α,β-unsaturated substrates has been utilized for a large number of chiral catalyzed systems, the use of lithium enolates derived from ketones or esters has been sparsely demonstrated. The authors describe the addition of unstabilized lithium enolates to a α,β-unsaturated ester in high yield and moderate enantio­selectivity.