Access to oxoquinoline heterocycles by N-heterocyclic carbene catalyzed ester activation for selective reaction with an enone.

Organocatalytic ester activation is developed for a highly selective cascade reaction between saturated esters and amino enones. The reaction involves activation of the β-carbon atom of the ester as a key step. This method allows a single-step access to multicyclic oxoquinoline-type heterocycles with high enantiomeric ratios.