Organophotoredox-Catalyzed Intermolecular Formal Grob Fragmentation of Cyclic Alcohols with Activated Allylic Acetates

Org Lett. 2023 Aug 11;25(31):5869-5874. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.3c02129. Epub 2023 Jul 29.

Abstract

We have developed an efficient method that employs organophotoredox-catalyzed relay Grob fragmentation to facilitate the smooth ring-opening allylation of cyclic alcohols in an environmentally friendly manner. This protocol directly incorporates a wide spectrum of cyclic alcohols and activated allylic acetates into the cross-coupling reaction, eliminating the need for metal catalysts. The process yields a variety of distally unsaturated ketones with good to excellent outcomes and stereoselectivity, while acetic acid is the sole byproduct.