Visible Light instead of Transition Metal: Electron Donor Acceptor Complex Enabled Cross-Coupling of Aryl Halides with Active Methylene Compounds

Abstract

An arylation of anions of active methylene compounds with aryl halides provides an access to synthetically versatile α-arylated 1,3-diketones, β-keto esters, β-keto nitriles, β-cyano esters, etc. Previously, these C−C cross-coupling reactions have been accomplished only using transition metal-based catalysts. Herein, we demonstrate that these arylations can be successfully realized under catalyst-free conditions employing the electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complex photoactivation strategy. The protocol was further optimized for a semi-one pot synthesis of indole derivatives via an intramolecular C−C coupling.