Sugar thiourea catalyzed highly enantioselective Michael addition of 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone to β-nitroalkenes

A highly enantioselective Michael addition of 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone to beta-nitrostyrenes has been achieved using a novel class of sugar-Cinchona thiourea conjugates. The method offers significant advantages such as low catalyst loading (1 mol%), high enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee), short reaction times and ambient reaction conditions.