Cobaltaelectro-Catalyzed C-H Activation for Central and Axial Double Enantio-Induction.

In recent years, enantioselective electrocatalysis has surfaced as an increasingly-effective platform for sustainable molecular synthesis. Despite indisputable progress, strategies that allow the control of two distinct stereogenic elements with high selectivity remain elusive. In contrast, we, herein, describe electrochemical cobalt-catalyzed C-H activations that enable the installation of chiral stereogenic centers along with a chiral axis with high levels of enantio- and diastereoselectivities. The developed electrocatalysis strategy allowed for C-H/N-H activations/annulations with cyclic and non-cyclic alkenes providing expedient access to various central as well as atropo-chiral dihydroisoquinolinones paired to the valuable hydrogen evolution reaction. Studies on the atropo-stability of the obtained compounds demonstrated that the exceedingly mild conditions ensured by the electrocatalytic process were key for the achieved high stereoselectivities.

Photoinduced C-H arylation of 1,3-azoles via copper/photoredox dual catalysis.

The visible light-induced C-H arylation of azoles has been accomplished by dual-catalytic system with the aid of an inexpensive ligand-free copper(i)-catalyst in combination with a suitable photoredox catalyst. An organic photoredox catalyst, 10-phenylphenothiazine (PTH), was identified as effective, cost-efficient and environmentally-benign alternative to commonly-used, expensive Ir(iii)-based complexes. The method proved applicable for the C-H arylation of various azole derivatives, including oxazoles, benzoxazoles, thiazoles, benzothiazoles as well as more challenging imidazoles and benzimidazoles. Moreover, the derivatization of complex molecules and the gram scale synthesis of the natural product balsoxin reflected the synthetic utility of the developed strategy. Mechanistic studies were indicative of a single electron transfer-based (SET) mechanism with an aryl radical as key intermediate.

Photocatalytic C-C Cleavage of Methylenecyclobutanes for γ,δ-Unsaturated Aldehydes by Strain Release.

Radical additions onto olefins have surfaced as an increasingly powerful strategy for the synthesis of difunctionalized scaffolds. However, despite of major advances, known approaches continue to be largely limited to two manifolds, namely 1,2-difunctionalization of alkenes and remote difunctionalization via hydrogen atom transfer (HAT). Herein, we describe a mechanistically distinct approach by photoinduced carbon-carbon (C-C) activation/ring-opening to access γ,δ-unsaturated aldehydes from methylenecyclobutanols and sulfonyl chlorides by strain release. Remarkably, the sulfonyl motif on the products was easily removed by another photocatalytic process, which enabled the concise assembly of the natural product alatanone A. The synthetic utility of our approach was reflected by versatile functional group tolerance, ample substrate scope, and scalability. The photocatalysis represents a conceptually distinct alternative to existing approaches for remote 1,4-diversifications, with a double bond remaining in the thus obtained products.