Organocatalytic cascade nucleophilic/aza-Michael addition reactions: metal-free catalytic strategy for the synthesis of hydantoins

Org Biomol Chem. 2023 Mar 15;21(11):2295-2300. doi: 10.1039/d2ob01825j.

Abstract

Lewis base-catalyzed cascade nucleophilic/aza-Michael addition reaction of N-alkoxy β-oxo-acrylamides with isocyanates has been developed to afford various highly functionalized hydantoin derivatives in 80-98% yields under mild reaction conditions. The intriguing features of this method include metal-free reaction conditions, low catalyst loading, broad substrate scope and short reaction time.