Trichloromethylative Olefin Cycloamination by Photoredox Catalysis

The trichloromethyl group is an important functionality. It is a useful synthetic moiety and appears in the structures of natural and biologically active compounds; hence, developing synthetic methods for its introduction into structural motifs is an important objective. Herein, we report an efficient chemistry for the trichloromethylations and cycloaminations of olefin. These reactions are realized in a single step and triggered by the addition of the trichloromethyl radical, generated from bromotrichloromethane by photoredox catalysis, to a double bond, with the resulting intermediate trapped through intramolecular reaction with an amino group. This process facilitates the construction of N-heterocycles having trichloromethyl units and tetrasubstituted carbons from simple compounds under mild conditions.