NHC-Catalyzed Dual Stetter Reaction: A Mild Cascade Annulation for the Syntheses of Naphthoquinones, Isoflavanones, and Sugar-Based Chiral Analogues

The N-heterocycle carbene (NHC)-catalyzed dual Stetter cascade reaction is discovered through coupling of β-nitrostyrene with phthalaldehyde under mild conditions to furnish valuable aryl-naphthoquinones. The generality of the new reaction is validated through the development of a C–C and O–C bond forming Stetter cascade reaction using salicylaldehydes to obtain functionalized dihydroisoflavanones. The mild NHC organocatalysis is successfully employed for the construction of optically pure sugar-based naphthoquinones and dihydroisoflavanones. Herein, NHC is found as a unique and powerful organocatalyst to construct homoatomic C–C cross-coupling, heteroatomic O–C bond formation, and cascade cyclization utilizing NO2 as a leaving group at ambient temperature. A mechanistic pathway of the new metal-free catalysis is predicted on the basis of our ESI-MS study of the ongoing reaction and literature.