STEREOSELECTIVE SYNTHESIS OF TRIFLUOROMETHYLATED COMPOUNDS WITH CONTROLLED ADJACENT TERTIARY CARBONS BY MICHAEL ADDITION TO (E)-3-(TRIFLUOROMETHYL)ACRYLATES

Michael addition reaction of various lithium enolates to ethyl (E)-3-(trifluoromethyl)acrylate (E)-1 was found to be one of the most effective routes to construct materials not only with a CF3 group but also with readily distinguishable multiple functionalities by the routine chemical transformations. Particularly, employment of lithium enolates from chiral acyloxazolidinones as Michael donors resulted in the formation of 1,4-adducts, usually with a high degree of diastereoselectivity as well as with a high degree of diastereofacial selectivities only in a single step. Further, it was suggested by both the experimental results and the ab initio calculations that interaction between fluorine-(s) and lithium strongly stabilized the present Michael intermediates, allowing for the smooth reactions even with ketone enolates under kinetically controlled conditions.