Issue 8, 2021

Photoredox-enabled 1,2-dialkylation of α-substituted acrylates via Ireland–Claisen rearrangement

Abstract

Herein, we report the 1,2-dialkylation of simple feedstock acrylates for the synthesis of valuable tertiary carboxylic acids by merging Giese-type radical addition with an Ireland–Claisen rearrangement. Key to success is the utilization of the reductive radical-polar crossover concept under photocatalytic reaction conditions to force the [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement after alkyl radical addition to allyl acrylates. Using readily available alkyl boronic acids as radical progenitors, this redox-neutral, transition-metal-free protocol allows the mild formation of two C(sp3)–C(sp3) bonds, thus providing rapid access to complex tertiary carboxylic acids in a single step. Moreover, this strategy enables the efficient synthesis of highly attractive α,α-dialkylated γ-amino butyric acids (GABAs) when α-silyl amines are used as radical precursors – a structural motif that was still inaccessible in related transformations. Depending on the nature of the radical precursors and their inherent oxidation potentials, either a photoredox-induced radical chain or a solely photoredox mechanism is proposed to be operative.

Graphical abstract: Photoredox-enabled 1,2-dialkylation of α-substituted acrylates via Ireland–Claisen rearrangement

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
20 Nov 2020
Accepted
07 Jan 2021
First published
07 Jan 2021
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2021,12, 2816-2822

Photoredox-enabled 1,2-dialkylation of α-substituted acrylates via Ireland–Claisen rearrangement

R. Kleinmans, L. E. Will, J. L. Schwarz and F. Glorius, Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 2816 DOI: 10.1039/D0SC06385A

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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