Phosphinoyl-aziridines as a new class of chiral catalysts for enantioselective Michael addition

A series of new optically pure phosphine oxides containing chiral aziridine subunit were synthesized in good yields and applied as organocatalysts in asymmetric Michael reaction of various aliphatic aldehydes with β-nitrostyrene. The corresponding organocatalysts were synthesized starting from optically pure aziridines in a few simple efficient steps. The appropriate Michael adducts were obtained in most cases in very high chemical yield (up to 97%), excellent enantioselectivity (up to 98% of ee) and diastereoselectivity (up to 95:5 of dr).