Photoredox catalytic deoxygenative divergent functionalizations of alcohols assisted by N,O-heterocyclic carbenes†
Abstract
In this work, we demonstrate an NHC-assisted photoredox catalytic protocol that allows deoxygenative functionalization of a series of 1°, 2°, and 3° alcohols with some electron-deficient radical acceptors, wherein the in situ generated alcohol–NHC adducts could be converted into alkyl radicals that were trapped by sulfone-type electrophiles and trifluoromethyl alkenes. These operationally simple C–O bond functionalization approaches tolerate a remarkably wide range of functional groups allowing access to important building blocks for drug discovery and medicinal chemistry. Moreover, it is described that macrocyclic alkynes could also be prepared with high efficiency through the intramolecular deoxygenative alkynylation.