Access to 1,2-oxazines has proven to be highly valuable for the preparation of a multitude of biologically active target compounds, [1] but there are few methods that have been developed for their syntheses. [2] Of particular interest are the 3,6-dihydro-1,2-oxazines, which are available through nitroso hetero-Diels-Alder reactions, [3] gold-catalyzed cycloisomerization with allenes, [4] or (for selected examples) by a one-pot organocatalytic process involving a-oxyamination and an intramolecular Wittig reaction. [5] These oxazines have been valued as synthetic building blocks in organic syntheses, [6] and they are frequently found as structural skeletons in biologically active compounds. [7] We have recently reported an efficient and highly enantioselective formal [3+3] cycloaddition reaction between a variety of nitrones 1 and vinylcarbene intermediates derived from rhodium(II)-catalyzed reactions of TBSO-substituted enol diazoacetate (2 a, R 3 = H). [8] These high-yielding reactions occur by the vinylogous reaction of the electrophilic metal carbene with the nucleophilic nitrone coupled with the intramolecular addition of an iminium ion and dissociation of the catalyst (Scheme 1). In attempts to broaden the scope of this transformation by using 2 b (R 3 = Ph) and examine the diastereocontrol we discovered that the rhodium(II) catalysts were inert towards dinitrogen extrusion from 2 b as well as any subsequent reaction. However, a strongly Lewis acidic copper(II) compound catalyzed this reaction efficiently and with complete diastereocontrol.Treatment of TBSO-substituted enol diazoacetate 2 b (R 3 = Ph) with rhodium(II) acetate in the presence of nitrone 1 a (R 1 = p-BrC 6 H 4 ) at room temperature surprisingly resulted in no observable reaction over 1 h under conditions that resulted in 2 a (R 3 = H) forming the corresponding 3,6dihydro-1,2-oxazine 3 in nearly quantitative yield. Heating the reaction mixture containing [Rh 2 (OAc) 4 ] in dichloromethane to reflux led to a mixture of products, none of which resulted from [3+3] cycloaddition, but a minor component was observed that was generated by oxygen transfer from the nitrone after replacement of the dinitrogen in 2 b by oxygen. [9] Copper(I) catalysts that are alternatives to [Rh 2 (OAc) 4 ] for dinitrogen extrusion [9] were surprisingly limiting: only a trace amount of the [3+3] cycloaddition product was formed with CuI over 24 h (Table 1, entry 2), but this product was obtained as a single diastereoisomer (d.r. > 25:1) in 31 % yield from a reaction catalyzed by [Cu(MeCN) 4 ](PF 6 ) (entry 3). Clearly, traditional catalysts for the formation of metal carbenes [10] were not suitable to catalyze this transformation effectively.Encouraged by the observed high diasterocontrol, we surveyed a variety of Lewis acid catalysts. BF 3 ·OEt 2 , Sc-(OTf) 3 , and In(OTf) 3 were ineffective, but 3 a was formed, albeit as a minor product, on using a catalytic amount of Zn(OTf) 2 . However, the use of the Lewis acidic copper(II) triflate led to 3 a in 54 % yield (Tabl...