δ-Selective Functionalization of Alkanols Enabled by Visible-Light-Induced Ligand-to-Metal Charge Transfer

Abstract

We demonstrate the application of ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) excitation to the direct catalytic generation of energetically challenging alkoxy radicals from alcohols through a coordination-LMCT-homolysis process with an abundant and inexpensive cerium salt as the catalyst. This catalytic manifold provides a simple and efficient way to utilize the characteristic reactivity and selectivity of transient alkoxy radicals for δ-selective C-H bond functionalization. Under mild redox-neutral conditions without the need for prefunctionalization, this method provides a versatile platform to access molecular complexity from simple and abundant alcohols.