substituted chalcones undergo a 1, 7-hydride shift upon Lewis acid activation to form a
zwitterionic iminium enolate, which collapses to the dihydroquinoline-4-one scaffold. The
reaction proceeds in high yields (75–99%) with an excellent diastereoselectivity of up to>
99: 1 (cis: trans). The reaction mechanism is investigated by kinetic, isotope labeling, and
computational experiments.