Divergent and Synergistic Photocatalysis: Hydro- and Oxoalkylation of Vinyl Arenes for the Stereoselective Synthesis of Cyclopentanols via a Formal [4+1]-Annulation of 1,3-Dicarbonyls.

The controllable divergent reactivity of 1,3-dicarbonyls is described, which enables the efficient hydro- and oxoalkylation of vinyl arenes. Both reaction pathways are initiated through the formation of polarity-reversed C-centered-radical intermediates at the active methylene center of 1,3-dicarbonyls via direct photocatalytic C-H bond transformations. The oxoalkylation of alkenes is achieved under aerobic conditions via a Cu(II)-photomediated rebound mechanism, while the corresponding hydroalkylation becomes possible under a nitrogen atmosphere by the combination of 4CzIPN and a Brønsted base. The breadth of these divergent protocols is demonstrated in the late-stage modification of drugs and natural products and by the transformation of the products to a variety of heterocycles such as pyridines, pyrroles, or furans. Moreover, the two catalytic modes can be combined synergistically for the stereoselective construction of cyclopentanol derivatives in a formal [4+1]-annulation process.

Recent Advances in Catalytic Synthesis of Benzosultams.

Benzosultams represent one category of multi-heteroatom heterocyclic scaffolds, which have been frequently found in pharmaceuticals, agricultural agents, and chiral catalysts. Given the diversely significant functions of these compounds in organic and medicinal chemistry, great efforts have been made to develop novel catalytic systems for the efficient construction of benzosultam motifs over the past decades. Herein, in this review, we mainly summarize the recent advances in the field of catalytic synthesis of benzosultams from 2017 to August of 2020, with an emphasis on the scopes and mechanisms of representative reactions.

When Light Meets Nitrogen-Centered Radicals: From Reagents to Catalysts.

Nitrogen-centered radicals (NCRs) are a versatile class of highly reactive species that have a longer history than the classical carbon-based radicals in synthetic chemistry. Depending on the N-hybridization and substitution patterns, NCRs can serve as electrophiles or nucleophiles to undergo various radical transformations. Despite their power, progress in nitrogen-radical chemistry is still slow compared with the popularity of carbon radicals, and their considerable synthetic potential has been largely underexplored, which is, as concluded by Zard, mainly hampered by "a dearth of convenient access to these species and a lack of awareness pertaining to their reactivity".Over the past decade, visible-light photoredox catalysis has been established as a powerful toolbox that synthetic chemists can use to generate a diverse range of radical intermediates from native organic functional groups via a single electron transfer process or energy transfer under mild reaction conditions. This catalytic strategy typically obviates the need for external stoichiometric activation reagents or toxic initiators and often enables traditionally inaccessible ionic chemical reactions. On the basis of our long-standing interest in nitrogen chemistry and catalysis, we have emphasized the use of visible-light photoredox catalysis as a tactic to discover and develop novel methods for generating NCRs in a controlled fashion and synthetic applications. In this Account, we describe our recent advances in the development of visible-light-driven photoredox-catalyzed generation of NCRs and their synthetic applications.Inspired by the natural biological proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) process, we first developed a strategy of visible-light-driven photoredox-catalyzed oxidative deprotonation electron transfer to activate the N-H bonds of hydrazones, benzamides, and sulfonamides to give the corresponding NCRs under mild reaction conditions. With these reactive species, we then achieved a range of 5-exo and 6-endo radical cyclizations as well as cascade reactions in a highly regioselective manner, providing access to a variety of potentially useful nitrogen heterocycles. To further expand the repertoire of possible reactions of NCRs, we also revealed that iminyl radicals, derived from O-acyl cycloalkanone oxime esters, can undergo facile ring-opening C-C bond cleavage to give cyanoalkyl radicals. These newly formed radical species can further undergo a variety of C-C bond-forming reactions to allow the synthesis of diverse distally functionalized alkyl nitriles. Stimulated by these studies, we further developed a wide variety of visible-light-driven copper-catalyzed radical cross-coupling reactions of cyanoalkyl radicals. Because of their inherent highly reactive and transient properties, the strategy of heteroatom-centered radical catalysis is still largely underexplored in organic synthesis. Building on our understanding of the fundamental chemistry of NCRs, we also developed for the first time the concept of NCR covalent catalysis, which involves the use of in situ-photogenerated NCRs to activate allyl sulfones, vinylcyclopropanes, and N-tosyl vinylaziridines. This catalytic strategy has thus enabled efficient difunctionalization of various alkenes and late-stage modification of complex biologically active molecules.In this Account, we describe a panoramic picture of our recent contributions since 2014 to the development and application of the visible-light-driven photoredox systems in the field of NCR chemistry. These studies provide not only efficient methods for the synthesis of functionally rich molecules but also some insight into the exploration of new reactivity or reaction modes of NCRs.

Visible-Light-Driven Nitrogen Radical-Catalyzed [3 + 2] Cyclization of Vinylcyclopropanes and N-Tosyl Vinylaziridines with Alkenes.

A visible light photoredox-promoted and nitrogen radical catalyzed [3 + 2] cyclization of vinylcyclopropanes and N-tosyl vinylaziridines with alkenes is developed. Key to the success of this process is the use of the readily tunable hydrazone as a nitrogen radical catalyst. Preliminary mechanism studies suggest that the photogenerated nitrogen radical undergoes reversible radical addition to the vinylcyclopropanes and N-tosyl vinylaziridines to enable their ring-opening C-C and C-N bond cleavage and ensuing cyclization with alkenes.

Photoinduced, Copper-Catalyzed Radical Cross-Coupling of Cycloketone Oxime Esters, Alkenes, and Terminal Alkynes.

A photoinduced, copper-catalyzed three-component radical cross-coupling of cycloketone oxime esters, alkenes, and terminal alkynes is described for the first time. Key to the success of this process was the integration of photoinduced iminyl radical-mediated C-C bond cleavage with the conceptual simplicity of copper-catalyzed radical cross-coupling. This protocol provides access to cyanoalkyl-containing propargylic compounds in good yields.

Visible-Light-Driven Neutral Nitrogen Radical Mediated Intermolecular Styrene Difunctionalization.

A neutral nitrogen radical-mediation strategy, wherein the existing N-H moiety of substrates serves as a neutral nitrogen radical precursor to enable room-temperature intermolecular radical difunctionalization of styrenes under photoredox catalysis, is reported. The reaction shows high functional group tolerance and substrate scope with respect to both components, giving the corresponding products with generally good yields. Preliminary control experiments and DFT calculations are performed to explain the reaction mechanism.

Photogenerated Neutral Nitrogen Radical Catalyzed Bifunctionalization of Alkenes.

Alkene bifunctionalizations are powerful tools for the rapid construction of structurally complex and valuable scaffolds, and such reactions typically involve the use of transition-metal catalysts or organocatalysts. Here, we report for the first time a photogenerated neutral nitrogen radical catalyzed intermolecular alkene bifunctionalization by using allyl sulfones as the source of both the carbon and the sulfone functionalities under mild conditions. The key to the success of this protocol involves the visible-light-mediated photocatalytic in situ generation of a nitrogen-centered radical from the N-(2-acetylphenyl) benzenesulfonamide catalyst, and its activation of the allyl sulfones to generate reactive species. The preliminary control experiments supported the postulated mechanism.

Copper-Catalyzed Radical Cross-Coupling of Redox-Active Oxime Esters, Styrenes, and Boronic Acids.

A visible-light-driven, copper-catalyzed three-component radical cross-coupling of oxime esters, styrenes, and boronic acids has been developed. Key steps of this protocol involve catalytic generation of an iminyl radical from a redox-active oxime ester and subsequent C-C bond cleavage to generate a cyanoalkyl radical. Upon its addition to styrene, the newly formed benzylic radical undergoes coupling with a boronic-acid-derived ArCuII complex to achieve 1,1-diarylmethane-containing alkylnitriles.

Eosin Y as a Redox Catalyst and Photosensitizer for Sequential Benzylic C-H Amination and Oxidation.

A new synergistic multicatalytic activation mode of eosin Y has been discovered by exploiting the redox potential of its ground state and excited state. This catalytic strategy proves to be an enabling tool for visible-light-driven sequential benzylic C-H amination and oxidation of o-benzyl-N-methoxyl-benzamides when using Selectfluor as a hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) reagent and O2 as oxidant. Efficient synthesis of a range of diversely functionalized 3-hydroxyisoindolinones can thus be achieved with good yields and selectivity at mild reaction conditions. Preliminary mechanistic studies and DFT calculations suggest that eosin Y works as a redox catalyst and photosensitizer.

Visible light-driven photocatalytic generation of sulfonamidyl radicals for alkene hydroamination of unsaturated sulfonamides.

A visible light-driven photocatalytic generation of sulfonamidyl radicals, and application to intramolecular alkene hydroamination, has been accomplished, providing a mild and efficient approach to various functionalized isoxazolidines. The success of this protocol is based on the strategy of oxidative deprotonation electron transfer by merging the base and the photocatalyst under visible light irradiation, obviating installation of a photolabile handle or stoichiometric external oxidants.

Synthesis of Dihydropyrazoles via Ligand-Free Pd-Catalyzed Alkene Aminoarylation of Unsaturated Hydrazones with Diaryliodonium Salts.

A ligand-free, palladium-catalyzed aminoarylation reaction of the unactivated alkenes in ß,γ-unsaturated hydrazones is described. This protocol enables efficient and simultaneous formation of C(sp3)-N and C(sp3)-C(sp2) bonds under mild conditions, providing a practical and general approach to various diversely substituted dihydropyrazoles in generally good yields, without the use of any stoichiometric external oxidant.

Photocatalytic Hydrazonyl Radical-Mediated Radical Cyclization/Allylation Cascade: Synthesis of Dihydropyrazoles and Tetrahydropyridazines.

A novel photocatalytic hydrazonyl radical-mediated radical cyclization/allylation cascade reaction of ß,γ-unsaturated hydrazones is developed using allyl sulfones and Morita-Baylis-Hillman adduct as allyl sources, which provides an efficient and practical access to various diversely functionalized dihydropyrazoles and tetrahydropyridazines. The reaction is enabled by controllable generation of hydrazonyl radicals via an oxidative deprotonation electron transfer strategy and selective trapping of the resultant C-centered radicals under visible light irradiation.

A visible-light photocatalytic N-radical cascade of hydrazones for the synthesis of dihydropyrazole-fused benzosultams.

An efficient visible light photocatalytic and external oxidant-free N-radical 5-exo cyclization/addition/aromatization cascade of ß,γ-unsaturated hydrazones is described, which provides a practical route to various biologically interesting dihydropyrazole-fused benzosultams in satisfactory yields.

Catalytic N-radical cascade reaction of hydrazones by oxidative deprotonation electron transfer and TEMPO mediation.

Compared with the popularity of various C-centred radicals, the N-centred radicals remain largely unexplored in catalytic radical cascade reactions because of a lack of convenient methods for their generation. Known methods for their generation typically require the use of N-functionalized precursors or various toxic, potentially explosive or unstable radical initiators. Recently, visible-light photocatalysis has emerged as an attractive tool for the catalytic formation of N-centred radicals, but the pre-incorporation of a photolabile groups at the nitrogen atom largely limited the reaction scope. Here, we present a visible-light photocatalytic oxidative deprotonation electron transfer/2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO)-mediation strategy for catalytic N-radical cascade reaction of unsaturated hydrazones. This mild protocol provides a broadly applicable synthesis of 1,6-dihydropyradazines with complete regioselectivity and good yields. The 1,6-dihydropyradazines can be easily transformed into diazinium salts that showed promising in vitro antifungal activities against fungal pathogens. DFT calculations are conducted to explain the mechanism.

Visible-light-induced photocatalytic oxytrifluoromethylation of N-allylamides for the synthesis of CF3-containing oxazolines and benzoxazines.

A visible-light-induced photocatalytic oxytrifluoromethylation reaction of N-allylamides has been developed for the efficient synthesis of CF3-containing oxazolines and benzoxazines under mild reaction conditions.

PhI(OAc)2-mediated functionalisation of unactivated alkenes for the synthesis of pyrazoline and isoxazoline derivatives.

A PhI(OAc)2-promoted radical cyclization of ß,γ-unsaturated hydrazones and oximes has been developed for an efficient synthesis of various valuable pyrazoline and isoxazoline derivatives with satisfactory yields (up to 96%) under mild conditions.