Construction of Fused Pyrrolidines and β-Lactones by Carbene-Catalyzed C-N, C-C, and C-O Bond Formations.

A carbene-catalyzed intermolecular C-N bond formation, which initiates a highly selective cascade reaction for the synthesis of pyrrolidine fused β-lactones, is disclosed. The nitrogen-containing bicyclic β-lactone products are obtained with good yields and excellent stereoselectivities. Synthetic transformations of the reaction products into useful functional molecules, such as amino catalysts, can be efficiently realized under mild reaction conditions. Mechanistically, this study provides insights into modulating the reactivities of heteroatoms, such as nitrogen atoms, in challenging carbene-catalyzed asymmetric carbon-heteroatom bond-forming reactions.