Chiral Bis(oxazolidine)pyridine–Copper-Catalyzed Enantioselective Friedel–Crafts Alkylation of Indoles with Nitroalkenes

Catalytic asymmetric Friedel–Crafts reaction of indoles with nitroalkenes was catalyzed by the stereochemically tunable bis(oxazolidine)pyridine (PyBodine)–Cu(OTf)2 complex. Using the PyBodine(Val)–Cu(OTf)2 catalyst gave the Friedel–Crafts ­adducts with highly enantioselective manner. For the 1,4-bis[(E)-2-nitrovinyl]benzene, the reaction proceeded in a meso-trick manner to give the chiral double Friedel–Crafts adduct with 97% enantiomeric excess.