Highly enantioselective construction of CF3-bearing all-carbon quaternary stereocenters: Chiral spiro-fused bisoxazoline ligands with 1,1'-binaphthyl sidearm for asymmetric Michael-type Friedel-Crafts reaction

A novel class of chiral spiro-fused bisoxazoline ligands possessing a deep chiral pocket was prepared.The developed ligands have been employed in the nickel-catalyzed highly enantioselective Michael-type Friedel-Crafts reaction, affording the products bearing a trifluoromethylated all-carbon quaternary stereocenter with moderate to excellent yields(up to 99%) and good to excellent enantioselectivies(up to> 99.9% ee). Moreover, a proposed model of chiral pocket revealed that the attack of indole from the Re-face of β-CF3-β-disubstituted nitroalkene was favorable.