Herein we disclose an iron-catalyzed method to access skeletal rearrangement reactions akin to the Dowd-Beckwith ring expansion from unactivated C(sp3)-H bonds. Photoinduced ligand-to-metal charge transfer at the iron center generates a chlorine radical, which abstracts electron-rich C(sp3)-H bonds. The resulting unstable alkyl radicals can undergo rearrangement in the presence of suitable functionality. Addition to an electron deficient olefin, recombination with a photoreduced iron complex, and subsequent protodemetallation allows for redox-neutral alkylation of the resulting radical. Simple adjustments to the reaction conditions enable the selective synthesis of the directly alkylated or the rearranged-alkylated products. As a radical clock, these rearrangements also enable the measurement of rate constants of addition into various electron deficient olefins in the Giese reaction.
Keywords: Dowd-Beckwith; LMCT; iron catalysis; photocatalysis; primary C(sp3)-H alkylation; skeletal rearrangement.