A cinchona alkaloid derivative,
β-isocupreidine (β-ICD,
1), has been known as a catalyst which catalyzes reactions such as the Morita–Baylis–Hillman (MBH) reaction
1), aza-MBH reaction
2), Michael reaction
3), electrophilic amination
4), and [2+2] cycloaddition
5,6) with high enantioselectivities. Recently, Hatakeyama, Ishihara,
et al. have developed
α-isocupreine (α-ICPN,
2), a pseudoenantiomer of
1, and reported the MBH reaction using
2.
7) According to their results, in the reaction of various aldehydes with 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoroisopropyl acrylate (HFIPA), the catalyst
1 affords (
R)-products, and the catalyst
2 affords the related (
S)-isomers respectively, in good yields. Thus, both enantiomers can be obtained in various kinds of asymmetric reactions by using these two catalysts properly. This synthetic method has broad applicability to the synthesis of natural products.