A new entry to cascade organocatalysis: reactions of stable sulfur ylides and nitroolefins sequentially catalyzed by thiourea and DMAP.

A novel cascade organocatalysis that allows efficient and rapid access to diverse and structurally complex oxazolidin-2-ones from simple starting materials and catalysts has been developed. A possible mechanism of this reaction has been proposed based on D- and 13C-labeling experiments.