N-Heterocyclic Carbene Catalyzed Activation of Esters: A New Option for Asymmetric Domino Reactions^†

Esters—what else! A new strategy in NHC organocatalysis allows the α-, β- and γ-activation of saturated and unsaturated esters. The resulting acyl azolium intermediates efficiently participate in domino reactions with suitable substrates to generate synthetically valuable carbo- and heterocycles with very good diastereo- and excellent enantioselectivities.