Disclosed are enantioselective cross dehydrogenative coupling reactions for synthesizing tetrahydropyran compounds. Novel tetrahydropyran compounds may be synthesized by the disclosed methods as well as tetrahydropyran precursor compounds for synthesizing various naturally occurring compounds. The enantioselective cross dehydrogenative coupling reactions utilize in situ Lewis Acid activation in combination with oxidative formation of an oxocarbenium ion to provide a highly efficient and selective coupling reaction for synthesizing tetrahydropyran compounds.