The use of L-proline derivatives employed in OXA-Michael-Henry tandem reactions has been an efficient method to produce enantiomerically enriched compounds. In this work it was carried out a study of the OXA-Michael-Henry reactions between salicylaldehyde and β-nitrostyrenes, catalyzed by L-proline and its derivatives. The corresponding (R)-3-nitro-2-phenyl-2H-chromenes were obtained in 55% enantiomeric excess (ee, 20 mol% L-proline) and 70% ee (stoichiometric amount) employing Ti(OiPr)4 as Lewis acid. Despite the ee obtained, to the best of our knowledge, this result represents the highest enantioselectivity obtained in this reaction. Therefore, this work demonstrated that it is possible to obtain considerable enantiomeric excesses in OXA-Michael-Henry reactions using L-proline, an inexpensive and accessible amino acid.

The essential oil isolated by hydrodistillation from flowers and root bark of Gochnatia polymorpha (Less) Cabr. ssp floccosa Cabr. (Asteraceae) was analyzed by capillary GC/MS. Thirty components were identified in oil of flowers. The composition depends on the stage of flowering. At the beginning of flowering, the main components were (E)-nerolidol (20,4%) and eugenol (17,9%) whereas at the end they were phenylacetaldehyde (14,6%) and tricosane (12,0%). In the essential oil of root bark ten sesquiterpenes were identified. The major components were beta-bisabolene (31,0%) and beta-bisabolol (21,5%). This paper describes for the first time the composition of essential oil in the genus Gochnatia.