Recent Advances in Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalyzed γ-Cyanoalkylation Reactions

Abstract

Visible-light-induced photoredox-catalyzed organic transformations through single-electron-transfer pathways have recently come to the limelight in modern organic chemistry. These innovative radical processes appear as ideal tactics for making a diverse set of pharmacologically and synthetically useful organic molecules under sustainable conditions. In this review, we summarize a brief overview of recent status of radical C(sp3)−X (X=C, S, Se, B, F, Cl etc) cross-coupling reactions of cyclobutanone oxime esters as the surrogates of γ-cyanoalkyl radicals with various kinds of radical acceptors using photocatalysts irradiated by visible light or natural sunlight. The efficiency of various metal-salts (Ir, Ru, Cu, Pd etc) and metal-free organic molecules (eosin Y, rose Bengal, 4CzIPN, HE, PhPTZ, Mes−Acr+ etc) as photocatalysts were thoroughly examined for the above conversions. Furthermore, the mechanism of the said reactions has also been presented. Notably, the described photocatalytic cycles would further bestow a new mechanistic concept for aiming a variety of cyanoalkylated scaffolds. © 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.