Visible-light-induced hydroxycarboxylation of α-trifluoromethylstyrenes to construct densely functionalized α-CF3 tertiary alcohols

Abstract

A visible-light-induced hydroxycarboxylation of α-trifluoromethylstyrenes is reported herein, which provides a series of α-trifluoromethyl-β-carboxyl tertiary alcohols under mild and environmentally friendly conditions in moderate to good yields. This protocol is enabled by SET between a photocatalyst and sodium formate to obtain CO₂˙⁻ without adding an additional HAT reagent. Broad substrate scope, excellent functional group compatibility, gram-scale synthesis and synthetic applications show the significant potential application of this protocol in the synthesis of a variety of compounds with densely functionalized α-CF₃ tertiary alcohols.