Highly enantio- and diastereoselective organocatalytic cascade aza-Michael-Michael reactions: a direct method for the synthesis of trisubstituted chiral pyrrolidines.

An unprecedented highly enantio- and diastereoselective cascade aza-Michael-Michael reaction of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes with trans-gamma-Ts protected amino alpha,beta-unsaturated ester has been developed; the simple and practical process, efficiently catalyzed by chiral diphenylprolinol TMS ether, serves as a powerful access to highly functionalized trisubstituted chiral pyrrolidines.