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A new thiourea catalyst is reported for the enantioselective cationic polycyclization of hydroxylactams. Both the yield and enantioselectivity of this transformation were found to vary strongly with the identity of a single aromatic residue on a common catalyst framework, with more expansive and polarizable arenes proving optimal. Evidence is presented for a mechanism in which stabilizing cation-pi interactions are a principal determinant of enantioselectivity.
Knowles et al. (Wed,) studied this question.