Reported herein is a new iron-catalyzed diastereoselective olefin diazidation reaction which occurs at room temperature (1–5 mol % of catalysts and d.r. values of up to >20:1). This method tolerates a broad range of both unfunctionalized and highly functionalized olefins, including those that are incompatible with existing methods. It also provides a convenient approach to vicinal primary diamines as well as other synthetically valuable nitrogen-containing building blocks which are difficult to obtain with alternative methods. Preliminary mechanistic studies suggest that the reaction may proceed through a new mechanistic pathway in which both Lewis acid activation and iron-enabled redox-catalysis are crucial for selective azido-group transfer.

Cinchona alkaloids catalyze the oxa-Michael cyclization of 4-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-2-butenoates to benzo-2,3-dihydrofuran-2-yl acetates and related substrates in up to 99 % yield and 91 % ee (ee=enantiomeric excess). Catalyst and substrate variation studies reveal an important role of the alkaloid hydroxy group in the reaction mechanism, but not in the sense of a hydrogen-bonding activation of the carbonyl group of the substrate as assumed by the Hiemstra–Wynberg mechanism of bifunctional catalysis. Deuterium labeling at C-2 of the substrate shows that addition of ROH to the alkenoate occurs with syn diastereoselectivity of ≥99:1, suggesting a mechanism-based specificity. A concerted hydrogen-bond network mechanism is proposed, in which the alkaloid hydroxy group acts as a general acid in the protonation of the α-carbanionic center of the product enolate. The importance of concerted hydrogen-bond network mechanisms in organocatalytic reactions is discussed. The relative stereochemistry of protonation is proposed as analytical tool for detecting concerted addition mechanisms, as opposed to ionic 1,4-additions.

A stereodivergent asymmetric Lewis base catalyzed Michael addition/lactonization of enone acids into substituted dihydrobenzofuran and tetrahydrofuran derivatives is reported. Commercially available (S)-(−)-tetramisole hydrochloride gives products with high syn diastereoselectivity in excellent enantioselectivity (up to 99:1 d.r._syn/anti, 99 % ee_syn), whereas using a cinchona alkaloid derived catalyst gives the corresponding anti-diastereoisomers as the major product (up to 10:90 d.r._syn/anti, 99 % ee_anti).