Synthesis of highly functionalized chiral 3,3'-disubstituted oxindoles via an organocatalytic enantioselective Michael addition of nitroalkanes to indolylidenecyanoacetates.

An efficient bifunctional cinchona alkaloid derived thiourea-promoted enantioselective conjugate addition of nitroalkanes to indolylidenecyanoacetates has been developed under neat conditions. The process leads to synthetically interesting densely functionalized 3,3'-disubstituted oxindoles with creation of up to three stereogenic centers.