Direct allylic acylation via cross-coupling involving cooperative N‑heterocyclic carbene, hydrogen atom transfer, and photoredox catalysis

Abstract

Herein, we report a mild, operationally simple, multicatalytic method for the synthesis of β,γ-unsaturated ketones via allylic acylation of alkenes. Specifically, the method combines N‑heterocyclic carbene catalysis, hydrogen atom transfer catalysis, and photoredox catalysis for cross-coupling reactions between a wide range of feedstock carboxylic acids and readily available olefins to afford structurally diverse β,γ-unsaturated ketones without olefin transposition. The method could be used to install acyl groups on highly functionalized natural-product-derived compounds with no need for substrate pre-activation, and C–H functionalization proceed with excellent site selectivity. To demonstrate the potential applications of the method, we convert a representative coupling product into various useful olefin synthons.