Fluorinated Ketones as Trapping Reagents for Visible-Light-Induced Singlet Nucleophilic Carbenes

Org Lett. 2021 Apr 2;23(7):2783-2789. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.1c00708. Epub 2021 Mar 18.

Abstract

Singlet nucleophilic carbenes (SNCs) containing only one heteroatom donor remain underutilized in chemical synthesis. We recently discovered that visible-light-induced SNC intermediates can be trapped by fluorinated ketones via 1,2-carbonyl addition to afford benzoin-type products. This discovery represents a rare example of nucleophilic carbenes reacting with ketones and delivers an efficient, user-friendly, and scalable process for accessing fluorinated tertiary alcohol derivatives driven only by light circumventing the use of exogenous catalysts or additives.