A protocol for the isothiourea-catalysed transfer hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated para-nitrophenyl esters using Hantzsch ester has been developed. Good to excellent yields are observed using α,β-unsaturated aryl esters bearing electron-withdrawing β-substituents. The aryl ester products can either be isolated directly in moderate to excellent yields (7 examples, 16–98%) or converted to the corresponding methyl esters (2 examples, 68–70% yield) or benzyl amides (2 examples, 44–88% yield) after in situ reaction of the hydrogenated ester with the appropriate nucleophile. Preliminary experiments showed that modest enantioinduction (76:24 er) is possible when a chiral isothiourea catalyst was used.

已开发出使用Hantzsch酯的异硫脲催化的α，β-不饱和对硝基苯酯转移氢化的方案。使用带有吸电子β-取代基的α，β-不饱和芳基酯，观察到良好至优异的产率。可以直接分离出芳基酯产物，以中等至优异的收率（7例，产率为16–98％）或转化为相应的甲酯（2例，产率为68–70％）或苄基酰胺（2例，44-88）。氢化酯与适当的亲核试剂进行原位反应后得到 初步实验表明，当使用手性异硫脲催化剂时，适度的对映体诱导（76:24 er）是可能的。