Diphenylprolinol silyl ether as a catalyst in an enantioselective, catalytic michael reaction for the formation of alpha,alpha-disubstituted alpha-amino acid derivatives.

Direct and enantioselective: Diphenylprolinol silyl ether was found to catalyze the direct, asymmetric Michael reaction of 4-substituted 2-aryl-2-oxazoline-5-one and alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes, affording the chiral alpha,alpha-disubstituted alpha-amino acid derivatives with excellent enantioselectivity.