Nickel(II)‐Catalyzed Diastereo‐ and Enantioselective Michael/ Hemiacetalization Cascade Reaction of α‐Ketoesters with 2‐(2‐Nitrovinyl)phenols

A nickel(II)/diamine‐catalyzed diastereo‐ and enantioselective Michael/hemiacetalization cascade reaction of α‐ketoesters with 2‐(2‐nitrovinyl)phenols has been established, thus providing a range of structurally diverse polysubstituted chromanes in good yields and excellent stereoselectivities (up to 89% yield, >20:1 dr, >99% ee). Moreover, the gram‐scale experiment was performed with only 0.5 mol% of catalyst, and tricyclic furanobenzodihydropyran compound was gained by the derivatization of product, which showed the great synthetic potential of this strategy.