Diastereodivergent organocatalysis for the asymmetric synthesis of chiral annulated furans

Disclosed herein is a stereoselective method for the synthesis of 2,3-furan fused carbocycles bearing adjacent quaternary and tertiary carbon stereocenters. The chemistry is based on an asymmetric addition of beta-ketoesters to 2-(1-alkynyl)-2-alkene-1-ones catalysed by natural cinchona alkaloids followed by a silver-catalysed intramolecular cycloisomerisation. By exploiting the distinct catalysis modes of quinine, which can act either as a general base or, upon opportune modifications, as a phase transfer catalyst, a complete switch of the enforced sense of diastereoinduction is achieved. The stereodivergent systems enable access to the full matrix of all possible stereoisomeric products.