Towards the total synthesis of keramaphidin B by Jakubec, P, Farley, A, Dixon, D

“…The enantio- and diastereoselective Michael addition of a δ-valerolactone-derived pronucleophile to a substituted furanyl nitroolefin catalysed by a bifunctional cinchonine-derived thiourea has been used as the key stereocontrolling step in a new synthetic strategy to the heavily functionalised piperidine core of keramaphidin B.…”

Immobilisation and application of bifunctional iminophosphorane organocatalysts by Goldys, A, Anna Goldys

“…<p>Bifunctional iminophosphoranes, containing a triaryl-substituted iminophosphorane and bis(3,5- trifluoromethyl)phenyl thiourea on a single enantiomer scaffold are novel asymmetric superbase organocatalysts reported by the Dixon group in 2014. …”

Enantioselective organocatalytic Michael addition of malonate esters to nitro olefins using bifunctional cinchonine derivatives. by Ye, J, Dixon, D, Hynes, P

“…A family of 9-amino(9-deoxy) epicinchonine derivatives, possessing a range of mono- and bidentate hydrogen bond donor groups at the 9-position, were synthesised and evaluated for asymmetric organocatalytic activity in the dimethyl malonate Michael addition to beta-nitrostyrene; thiourea derivative was identified as the most effective bifunctional organic catalyst and found to induce high enantioselectivity in the malonate ester Michael addition reaction to a range of nitro olefins.…”

Enantioselective bifunctional iminophosphorane catalyzed sulfa-Michael addition of alkyl thiols to unactivated β-substituted-α,β-unsaturated esters by Yang, J, Farley, A, Dixon, D

“…The low acidity of the alkyl thiol pro-nucleophiles is overcome by the high Brønsted basicity of the catalyst and the chiral scaffold/thiourea hydrogen-bond donor moiety provides the required enantiofacial discrimination in the addition step. …”

Catalytic enantioselective methods for challenging polar addition reactions by Thomson, CJ

“…The ability of a BIMP catalyst to activate high-pKa aryl methyl ketone pro-nucleophiles is emphasised against the backdrop of traditional Cinchona and thiourea organocatalysis. The broad downstream utility of the β-hydroxy ketone products is demonstrated, along with an efficient scale-up protocol showcasing catalyst recyclability. …”

Development and application of a new class of potent bifunctional organocatalysts by Farley, A, Dixon, D

“…The reaction required the development of BIMP catalysts such as <b>4</b> that incorporated an amide thiourea H-bond donor group. 31 examples were investigated with quantitative yields and up to 96% ee obtained in the formation of β-mercaptoesters <b>7</b>. …”