Assembly of fluorinated chromanones via enantioselective tandem reaction.

The enantioselective synthesis of fluorinated tricyclic chromanones with multiple vicinal stereogenic centers has been realized for the first time, through the tandem reaction between 2-fluorinated 1-(2-hydroxyaryl)-1,3-diketones and α,β-unsaturated aldehydes. In the presence of chiral amine, the organo-tandem reaction including catalytic Michael addition/cycloketalization/hemiacetalization and acylation sequence provided a wide range of fluorinated tricyclic chromanones with excellent outcomes (>30 examples, up to >99% ee and >19 : 1 d.r.). A plausible catalytic cycle and transition state are also provided for this tandem reaction to rationalize the observed sense of asymmetric induction.