Molecules that contain the β-arylethylamine motif have applications in the modulation of pain, treatment of neurological disorders and management of opioid addiction, among others, making it a privileged scaffold in drug discovery^1,2. De novo methods for their assembly are reliant on transformations that convert a small class of feedstocks into the target compounds via time-consuming multistep syntheses^3,4,5. Synthetic invention can drive the investigation of the chemical space around this scaffold to further expand its capabilities in biology^6,7,8,9. Here we report the development of a dual catalysis platform that enables a multicomponent coupling of alkenes, aryl electrophiles and a simple nitrogen nucleophile, providing single-step access to synthetically versatile and functionally diverse β-arylethylamines. Driven by visible light, two discrete copper catalysts orchestrate aryl-radical formation and azido-group transfer, which underpin an alkene azidoarylation process. The process shows broad scope in alkene and aryl components and an azide anion performs a multifaceted role both as a nitrogen source and in mediating the redox-neutral dual catalysis via inner-sphere electron transfer^10,11. The synthetic capabilities of this anion-mediated alkene functionalization process are likely to be of use in a variety of pharmaceutically relevant and wider synthetic applications.

含有 β-芳基乙胺基序的分子可用于调节疼痛、治疗神经系统疾病和管理阿片类药物成瘾等，使其成为药物发现中的重要支架^1,2。从头组装它们的方法依赖于通过耗时的多步合成^3,4,5将一小类原料转化为目标化合物的转化。合成发明可以推动对该支架周围化学空间的研究，以进一步扩展其在生物学中的能力^6,7,8,9. 在这里，我们报告了双催化平台的开发，该平台能够实现烯烃、芳基亲电子试剂和简单的氮亲核试剂的多组分偶联，提供一步合成多功能和功能多样的 β-芳基乙胺。在可见光的驱动下，两种离散的铜催化剂协调芳基自由基形成和叠氮基转移，从而支持烯烃叠氮芳基化过程。该过程在烯烃和芳基组分中表现出广泛的范围，叠氮化物阴离子作为氮源和通过内球电子转移^{10,11介导氧化还原-中性双重催化发挥多方面的作用}. 这种阴离子介导的烯烃功能化过程的合成能力可能会用于各种药学相关和更广泛的合成应用。