Chiral (thio)phosphorodiamides as excellent hydrogen bond donor catalysts in the asymmetric Michael addition of 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquione to nitroolefins.

A novel type of bidentate hydrogen bond donor catalysts based on (thio)phosphorodiamides catalophore has been developed for the asymmetric Michael addition of 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquione to nitroolefins, affording the corresponding adducts in high yields with excellent level of enantioselectivities (97- >99% ee). © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011