Enatioselective organocatalytic synthesis of highly functionalized tetrahydrothiophenes by a Michael-aldol cascade reaction

A catalytic asymmetric Michael-aldol cascade process for efficient synthesis of trisubstituted tetrahydrothiophenes is reported with high enantio- and diastereo-selectivities. Notably, three consecutive stereogenic centers including one chiral quaternary carbon center are efficiently created in the ‘one-pot’ operation.