Copper(II)-bis(oxazoline) catalyzed asymmetric Diels-Alder reaction with alpha'-arylsulfonyl enones as dienophiles.

Alpha'-arylsulfonyl enones are efficient bidentate dienophiles for the Cu(II)-bis(oxazoline) catalyzed enantioselective Diels-Alder reaction with a number of dienes, affording the corresponding products with good to high enantiomeric excesses. The resulting products can be alkylated and the sulfone removed, so alpha'-arylsulfonyl enones can be regarded as surrogates of simple monodentate enones, which are poor dienophiles with this catalytic system.