The Quinine Thiourea‐Catalyzed Asymmetric Strecker Reaction: An Approach for the Synthesis of 3‐Aminooxindoles

An organocatalytic enantioselective Strecker reaction for the synthesis of 3‐amino‐3‐cyanooxindoles has been developed. Employing a quinine‐derived thiourea catalyst, the nucleophilic addition of trimethylsilyl cyanide to N ‐Boc‐ketimines affords 3‐amino‐3‐canooxindoles in good to excellent yields (78–98%) and very good enantioselectivities (up to 94%). Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, this method also represents the first enantioselective organocatalyzed Strecker reaction with N ‐Boc‐ketimines as electrophiles.