Organocatalyzed Asymmetric Conjugate Addition of Cyclic β‐Keto Esters to (<i>E</i>)‐β‐Nitroacrylate Derivatives

A diaminomethylenemalononitrile organocatalyst efficiently promoted the asymmetric conjugate addition of cyclic β-keto esters to (E)-β-nitroacrylate derivatives, yielding the corresponding β-nitro esters derivatives with excellent enantioselectivities (up to >99 % ee). This is the first successful example of highly stereoselective conjugate addition of cyclic β-keto esters to (E)-β-nitroacrylate derivatives to obtain anti-isomers.