Asymmetric spiroacetalization catalysed by confined Brønsted acids

Acetals are molecular substructures that contain two oxygen-carbon single bonds at the same carbon atom, and are used in cells to construct carbohydrates and numerous other molecules. A distinctive subgroup are spiroacetals, acetals joining two rings, which occur in a broad range of biologically active compounds, including small insect pheromones and more complex macrocycles. Despite numerous methods for the catalytic asymmetric formation of other commonly occurring stereocentres, there are few approaches that exclusively target the chiral acetal centre and none for spiroacetals. Here we report the design and synthesis of confined Brønsted acids based on a C₂-symmetric imidodiphosphoric acid motif, enabling a catalytic enantioselective spiroacetalization reaction. These rationally constructed Brønsted acids possess an extremely sterically demanding chiral microenvironment, with a single catalytically relevant and geometrically constrained bifunctional active site. Our catalyst design is expected to be of broad utility in catalytic asymmetric reactions involving small and structurally or functionally unbiased substrates.