Visible Light-Catalyzed Benzylic C-H Bond Chlorination by a Combination of Organic Dye (Acr+-Mes) and N-Chlorosuccinimide

By combining "N-chlorosuccinimide (NCS)" as the safe chlorine source with "Acr⁺-Mes" as the photocatalyst, we successfully achieved benzylic C-H bond chlorination under visible light irradiation. Furthermore, benzylic chlorides could be converted to benzylic ethers smoothly in a one-pot manner by adding sodium methoxide. This mild and scalable chlorination method worked effectively for diverse toluene derivatives, especially for electron-deficient substrates. Careful mechanistic studies supported that NCS provided a hydrogen abstractor "N-centered succinimidyl radical," which was responsible for the cleavage of the benzylic C-H bond, relying on the reducing ability of Acr^•-Mes.

N-Hydroxyphthalimide/benzoquinone-catalyzed chlorination of hydrocarbon C-H bond using N-chlorosuccinimide

The direct chlorination of C-H bonds has received considerable attention in recent years. In this work, a metal-free protocol for hydrocarbon C-H bond chlorination with commercially available N-chlorosuccinimide (NCS) catalyzed by N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) with 2,3-dicyano-5,6-dichlorobenzoquinone (DDQ) functioning as an external radical initiator is presented. Aliphatic and benzylic substituents and also heteroaromatic ones were found to be well tolerated. Both the experiments and theoretical analysis indicate that the reaction goes through a process wherein NHPI functions as a catalyst rather than as an initiator. On the other hand, the hydrogen abstraction of the C-H bond conducted by a PINO species rather than the highly reactive N-centered radicals rationalizes the high chemoselectivity of the monochlorination obtained by this protocol as the latter is reactive towards the C(sp3)-H bonds of the monochlorides. The present results could hold promise for further development of a nitroxy-radical system for the highly selective functionalization of the aliphatic and benzylic hydrocarbon C-H.

An efficient synthesis of versatile synthon 3-chlorooxindoles with NaCl/oxone

The present work describes an expedient approach for the direct conversion of indole-3-carboxaldehyde to 3-chlorooxindoles.

Visible Light-Induced Oxidative Chlorination of Alkyl sp3 C-H Bonds with NaCl/Oxone at Room Temperature

A visible light-induced monochlorination of cyclohexane with sodium chloride (5:1) has been successfully accomplished to afford chlorocyclohexane in excellent yield by using Oxone as the oxidant in H₂O/CF₃CH₂OH at room temperature. Other secondary and primary alkyl sp³ C-H bonds of cycloalkanes and functional branch/linear alkanes can also be chlorinated, respectively, under similar conditions. The selection of a suitable organic solvent is crucial in these efficient radical chlorinations of alkanes in two-phase solutions. It is studied further by the achievement of high chemoselectivity in the chlorination of the benzyl sp³ C-H bond or the aryl sp² C-H bond of toluene.

Mild Aliphatic and Benzylic Hydrocarbon C-H Bond Chlorination Using Trichloroisocyanuric Acid

We present the controlled monochlorination of aliphatic and benzylic hydrocarbons with only 1 equiv of substrate at 25-30 °C using N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) as radical initiator and commercially available trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA) as the chlorine source. Catalytic amounts of CBr₄ reduced the reaction times considerably due to the formation of chain-carrying ·CBr₃ radicals. Benzylic C-H chlorination affords moderate to good yields for arenes carrying electron-withdrawing (50-85%) or weakly electron-donating groups (31-73%); cyclic aliphatic substrates provide low yields (24-38%). The products could be synthesized on a gram scale followed by simple purification via distillation. We report the first direct side-chain chlorination of 3-methylbenzoate affording methyl 3-(chloromethyl)benzoate, which is an important building block for the synthesis of vasodilator taprostene.

I2/TBHP-mediated oxidative coupling of ketones and toluene derivatives: a facile method for the preparation of α-benzoyloxy ketones

Synthesis of α-benzoyloxy ketones from ketones and toluenes using TBHP as the surrogate of toxic heavy-metal oxidants and the oxygen source of the incorporated oxygen.