Chiral N,N'-Dioxide Organocatalyzed Asymmetric Electrophilic α-Cyanation of β-Keto Esters and β-Keto Amides.

An enantioselective electrophilic α-cyanation of 1-indanone-derived β-keto esters and β-keto amides using a hypervalent iodine as the cyanide-transfer reagent was realized. A chiral N,N'-dioxide was used as the efficient bifunctional organocatalyst in the presence of inorganic base, which gave the corresponding α-cyano dicarbonyl compounds in yields of 50-99% with good enantioselectivities (87-97% ee).