Enantioselective intramolecular aldehyde α-alkylation with simple olefins: direct access to homo-ene products.

A highly selective method for the synthesis of asymmetrically substituted carbocycles and heterocycles from unactivated aldehyde-olefin precursors has been achieved via enantioselective SOMO-catalysis. Addition of a catalytically generated enamine radical cation across a pendent olefin serves to establish a general asymmetric strategy toward the production of a wide range of formyl-substituted rings with alkene transposition. Conceptually, this novel mechanism allows direct access to "homo-ene"-type products.