Visible-Light-Induced Trifluoromethylation of Unactivated Alkenes with Tri(9-anthryl)borane as an Organophotocatalyst

J Org Chem. 2019 Oct 18;84(20):12925-12932. doi: 10.1021/acs.joc.9b01624. Epub 2019 Aug 22.

Abstract

Tri(9-anthryl)borane was successfully applied as an organophotocatalyst for the visible-light-induced trifluoromethylation of unactivated alkenes with CF3I. The mild reaction conditions tolerated a variety of functional groups, and the reaction could be extended to perfluoroalkylations with C3F7I and C4F9I. Mechanistic studies revealed that the photoredox catalysis involves an oxidative quenching pathway.