Light-induced BiOBr nanosheets accelerated highly regioselective intermolecular trifluoromethylation/arylation of alkenes to synthesize CF3-containing aza-heterocycles

A light-induced, BiOBr nanosheets accelerated intermolecular one-pot tandem trifluoromethylation/arylation of alkenes was presented. With this method, a series of CF3-containing aza-heterocycles with high selectivity were fabricated in moderate to good yields. Preliminary mechanistic studies revealed that the exceptional transformation was originated from the synergistic effect of photogenerated electrons and holes. Density function theory (DFT) was adopted to understand the high selectivity of this photocatalytic chemical transformation.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide