Divergent Synthesis of Dihydropyranone Stereoisomers via N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Catalysis

Abstract We recently developed a novel chiral N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) catalyzed dynamic kinetic enantioselective acylation (DKEA) and dynamic kinetic diastereoselective acylation (DKDA) of Achmatowicz rearrangement products to generate useful intermediates for the further synthesis of carbohydrates. In this update, we describe a divergent NHC catalytic strategy for the stereoselective preparation of all four isomers starting from a common racemic precursor. The present report provides easy access to diverse optically pure dihydropyranones. magnified image