Chiral eight-membered carbocycles
are important motifs
in organic
chemistry, natural product chemistry, chemical biology, and medicinal
chemistry. The lack of synthetic methods toward their construction
is a challenge preventing their rational design and stereoselective
synthesis. The catalytic enantioselective [4 + 4] cycloaddition is
one of the most straightforward and atom-economical methods to obtain
chiral cyclooctadiene derivatives. We report the first organocatalytic
asymmetric [4 + 4] cycloaddition of 9H-fluorene-1-carbaldehydes
with electron-deficient dienes affording cyclooctadiene derivatives
in good yields and with excellent control of peri-, diastereo-, and
enantioselectivities. The reaction concept is based on the aminocatalytic
formation of a polarized butadiene component incorporated into a cyclic
extended π-system, with restricted conformational freedom, allowing
for a stereocontrolled [4 + 4] cycloaddition. FMO analysis unveiled
that the HOMO and LUMO of the two reacting partners resemble those
of butadiene. The methodology allows for the construction of cyclooctadiene
derivatives decorated with various functionalities. The cyclooctadienes
were synthetically elaborated, allowing for structural diversity demonstrating
their synthetic utility for the formation of, for example, chiral
cyclobutene- or cyclooctane scaffolds. DFT computational studies shed
light on the reaction mechanism identifying the preference for an
initial but reversible [4 + 2] cycloaddition delivering an off-cycle
catalyst resting state, from which catalyst elimination is not possible.
The off-cycle catalyst-bound intermediate undergoes a retro-[4 + 2]
cycloaddition, followed by a [4 + 4] cycloaddition generating a cycloadduct
from which catalyst elimination is possible. The reaction pathway
accounts for the observed peri-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivity
of the organocatalytic [4 + 4] cycloaddition.