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An efficient and convenient uranyl-catalyzed reductive hydrosilylation reaction of para-quinone methides (p-QMs) was developed by employing silane as the reductant. The hydrosilylation procedure using the UO2(NO3)2·6H2O/Et3SiH catalytic system proceeded smoothly and provided an expedient method for the construction of various diarylmethane derivatives in one step with good to excellent yields.

β-Alkoxy sulfides are widely used as versatile building blocks in organic synthesis. Therefore, it is highly desirable to develop a convenient and efficient method for oxysulfenylation of alkenes. In this communication, an easy and efficient metal-free approach to β-alkoxy sulfides has been developed. The protocol uses readily available 1-(arylthio)pyrrolidine-2,5-diones and alcohols as the oxysulfenylating agents, chloroform as the solvent, and no ligand, additive and exclusion of air were required. Therefore, the present method provides a useful strategy for synthesis of β-alkoxy sulfides.

The diastereospecific formation of δ-hydroxyalkylbutenolide phosphonate has been achieved via a vinylogous Mukaiyama aldol reaction. The reaction was performed using α-ketophosphonate 1 and 2-(trimethylsilyloxy)furan 2 mediated by Cu(OTf)(2) and 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol as additive in CH(2)Cl(2). The reaction proceeds rapidly and affords the corresponding 5-(hydroxy(aryl)methyl) furan-2(5H)-one phosphonates 3 in high yields with good to excellent diastereoselectivities (d.r. up to >99 : 1). 5-(Hydroxy(alkyl)methyl)furan-2(5H)-one phosphonates could also be obtained with good diastereoselectivities.

An enantioselective Biginelli reaction has been developed by using a bifunctional primary amine-thiourea-TfOH (BPAT·TfOH) as a chiral phase-transfer catalyst and t-BuNH(2)·TFA as an additive in saturated brine at room temperature. The corresponding dihydropyrimidines were obtained in moderate-to-good yields with up to 99% ee under mild conditions. A plausible transition state has been proposed to explain the origin of the activation and the asymmetric induction.

The diastereospecific formation of β-N-glycoside-linked α-amino-2(5H)-furanone has been achieved with high yield via a vinylogous Mannich reaction. The reaction was performed by using O-pivaloylated galactosylamine 1 as a chiral template and ZnCl(2)·Et(2)O as a promoter in Et(2)O. Imines 3 of aromatic compounds and trimethylsiloxyfuran 4 were converted to N-galactosyl α-amino-2(5H)-furanone 5, giving ratios of diastereomers higher than 20:1. This procedure provides rapid access to biologically important γ-butenolide derivatives.