A metal‐free, base‐catalyzed double Michael diastereoselective 4 + 2 annulation reaction of para ‐quinone methides with alkylidene pyrazolones and isatin‐derived N ‐Boc ketimines or isatylidine malonitriles has been developed, leading to biologically inspired spiro‐heterocyclic derivatives under mild reaction conditions in a short reaction time. This strategy involves an atom‐economic transformation that generates three contiguous stereocenters, including a quaternary spiro‐center, in good to excellent yield (up to 94%) with excellent diastereoselectivities (up to >20:1 dr ).
Savekar et al. (2025) studied this question.