Chiral squaramide-catalyzed highly diastereo- and enantioselective direct Michael addition of nitroalkanes to nitroalkenes

An efficient highly diastereo- and enantioselective direct Michael addition of nitroalkanes to nitroalkenes catalyzed by chiral squaramide catalyst has been developed. This organocatalytic reaction with a low catalyst loading (2 mol%) proceeded well to afford synthetically useful 1,3-dinitro compounds in high yields with high diastereoselectivities (up to 95 : 5 dr) and excellent enantioselectivities (up to 97% ee).