Formation of Dihydronaphthalenes via Organocatalytic Enatioselective Michael–Aldol Cascade Reactions with Arylalkanes

An organocatalytic highly enantioselective Michael–aldol
cascade access to valuable chiral dihydronaphthalenes has been realized.
Notably, the strategy via activation of nucleophilic alkyl chains
by introducing nitro, chloro, or CF3 group(s) at the ortho- and/or para-position(s) on an aromatic
ring renders them readily deprotonated to produce highly reactive
nulecophilic species in the cascade process under mild conditions.