Abstract

Preparative Fluoroalkylation via Visible Light Induced Electron Transfer

Corey Stephenson, Professor, University of Michigan

Visible light sensitization is an attractive means to initiate organic reactions due to the lack of visible light absorbance by organic compounds reducing side reactions often associated with photochemical reactions conducted with high energy UV light. In particular, the use of photocatalysts such as Ru(bpy)3Cl2 with an appropriate electron donor or electron acceptor permits the selective functionalization of many organic molecules, often resulting in improved chemoselectivity over current approaches while enabling the reduction of stoichiometric waste byproducts and toxic or hazardous reagents. The use of continuous flow techniques may offers the most efficient route to scaling up visible light photoredox methodologies. This talk will summarize the efforts toward this goal with focus on the introduction of pharmaceutically relevant fluoroalkyl groups onto aromatic systems.