Aerobic photo-decarboxylation of α-hydroxy carboxylic acid derivatives under visible light irradiation in the presence of catalytic iodine

Visible-Light Enabled Dehydroxylative Alkylation of α-Hydroxy Carboxylic Acid Derivatives via C-O Bond Cleavage

A novel visible-light photoredox strategy is reported for the efficient dehydroxylative alkylation of a wide array of α-hydroxy carboxylic acid derivatives using diaryl boron radical. The reaction features readily accessible starting materials, broad substrate scope with excellent functionality tolerance. Preliminary mechanistic studies reveal that the spin-center shift process is responsible for the C-O bond activation, which is promoted by the diaryl boron radical generated from bench-stable and commercially available tetraphenyl borate (NaBPh4 ).

Visible light-driven copper(ii) catalyzed aerobic oxidative cleavage of carbon–carbon bonds: a combined experimental and theoretical study

By switching on visible blue light, aerobic oxidation of various substrates, such as α-substituted, β-substituted and α-halo styrenes, was first realized with a copper(ii) catalyst.

Tracking down the brominated single electron oxidants in recent organic red-ox transformations: photolysis and photocatalysis

A wide range of organic and inorganic brominated compounds including molecular bromine have been extensively used as oxidants in many organic photo-redox transformations in recent years, an area of ever growing interest because of greener and milder approaches. The oxidation power of these compounds is utilized through both mechanistic pathways (by hydrogen atom transfer or HAT in the absence of a photocatalyst and a combination of single electron transfer or SET and/or HAT in the presence of a photocatalyst). Not only as terminal oxidants for regeneration of photocatalysts, but brominated reactants have also contributed to the oxidation of the reaction intermediate(s) to carry on the radical chain process in several reactions. Here in this review mainly the non-brominative oxidative product formations are discussed, carried out since the last two decades, skipping the instances where they acted as terminal oxidants only to regenerate photocatalysts. The reactions are used to generate natural products, pharmaceuticals and beyond.

Metal-Free Photocatalytic Synthesis of exo-Iodomethylene 2-Oxazolidinones: An Alternative Strategy for CO2 Valorization with Solar Energy

A visible-light-promoted metal-free carboxylative cyclization of propargylic amines with CO₂ was shown to offer exo-iodomethylene 2-oxazolidinones. Incorporation of both CO₂ and iodo moieties into these compounds was realized efficiently. The mechanism study revealed that this carboxylative cyclization proceeds through a radical pathway. Notably, the iodine-functionalized 2-oxazolidinone as a platform molecule could be easily converted into a wide range of value-added chemicals through Buchwald-Hartwig, Suzuki, Sonogashira, photocatalytic ene, and photoreduction reactions. As a result, the plentiful downstream transformations remarkably enhance the range of chemicals derived from CO₂ and open a potential avenue for CO₂ functionalization to circumvent energy challenges in this field.

Photocatalytic decarboxylative reduction of carboxylic acids and its application in asymmetric synthesis

The decarboxylative reduction of naturally abundant carboxylic acids such as α-amino acids and α-hydroxy acids has been achieved via visible-light photoredox catalysis. By using an organocatalytic photoredox system, this method offers a mild and rapid entry to a variety of high-value compounds including medicinally relevant scaffolds. Regioselective decarboxylation is achieved when differently substituted dicarboxylic acids are employed. The application of this method to the synthesis of enantioenriched 1-aryl-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl chiral amines starting from natural α-amino acids further testifies to the utility of the developed photocatalytic decarboxylative reduction protocol.

Catalyst-free photoredox addition-cyclisations: exploitation of natural synergy between aryl acetic acids and maleimide

Suitably functionalised carboxylic acids undergo a previously unknown photoredox reaction when irradiated with UVA in the presence of maleimide. Maleimide was found to synergistically act as a radical generating photoxidant and as a radical acceptor, negating the need for an extrinsic photoredox catalyst. Modest to excellent yields of the product chromenopyrroledione, thiochromenopyrroledione and pyrroloquinolinedione derivatives were obtained in thirteen preparative photolyses. In situ NMR spectroscopy was used to study each reaction. Reactant decay and product build-up were monitored, enabling reaction profiles to be plotted. A plausible mechanism, whereby photo-excited maleimide acts as an oxidant to generate a radical ion pair, has been postulated and is supported by UV/Vis. spectroscopy and DFT computations. The radical-cation reactive intermediates were also characterised in solution by EPR spectroscopy.