Lipase-catalyzed highly diastereoselective direct vinylogous Michael addition reaction of α,α-dicyanoolefins to nitroalkenes

Lipase-catalyzed direct vinylogous Michael addition reactions of electron-deficient vinyl malononitriles to nitroalkenes are reported for the first time. A series of nitroalkenes reacting with vinyl malononitriles generate the corresponding products with moderate to high yields in the presence of Lipozyme ® (immobilized lipase from Mucor miehei ) with excellent diastereoselectivities in all reactions under optimized conditions. Docking studies were performed to further elucidate the differences between the various enzymes and substrates. Furthermore, we demonstrated the synthetic potential of the multi-functional products by performing reactions that employed the electron-deficient alkylidene double bond.