Direct Organocatalytic Multicomponent Synthesis of Enantiopure γ‐Butyrolactones via Tandem Knoevenagel‐Michael‐Lactonization Sequence

Abstract

An expedient and straightforward protocol is developed for the synthesis of highly enantiopure synthesis of γ‐butyrolactones. For the first time, one pot enantioselective organocatalytic multicomponent reaction (OMCR) is explored to construct functionalized butyrolactones without the use of pre‐functionalized substrates and expensive transition metals. The protocol is proved to be reproducible on a gram scale. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations strongly support the mechanism and were in close agreement with the observed high stereoselectivity.