l-Proline rubidium salt catalyzes the asymmetric Michael addition of malonate anions to prochiral enones and enals. This method can be applied to a wide range of substrates to give adducts with a predictable absolute configuration:(S)-adducts from (E)-enones/enals and (R)-adducts from cyclic (Z)-enones. Both the secondary amine moiety and the carboxylate moiety are critical for the catalytic activity and asymmetric induction. Varying ...
