Asymmetric synthesis of α-alkylidene-β-hydroxy-γ-butyrolactones via enantioselective tandem Michael-aldol reaction.

A simple and efficient method for the asymmetric synthesis of α-alkylidene-β-hydroxy-γ-butyrolactones and related natural products was developed on the basis of the catalytic asymmetric tandem Michael-aldol reaction and simple transformations. The synthetic utility of this method was illustrated by the facile synthesis of trisubstituted γ-butyrolactone natural products.