Enantioselective desymmetrization of diesters.

The desymmetrization of prochiral diesters with a chiral phosphoric acid catalyst to produce highly enantioenriched lactones in excellent yield is reported. The process is easily scaled and accommodates a variety of substitution patterns, many of which result in the generation of an enantioenriched all-carbon quaternary center. Manipulation of lactone product to useful small building blocks is also described.