A highly enantioselective Friedel–Crafts alkylation of indoles with ethyltrifluoropyruvate has been developed using N,N′-dioxide-zinc(II) complexes. Both enantiomers of the desired adducts were obtained by the use of enantiomeric ligands in excellent results (up to 99% yield and 98% ee) within 0.5 h under mild conditions. On the basis of the experimental results, a proposed working model was proposed