Photo-induced reductive cross-coupling of aldehydes, ketones and imines with electron-deficient arenes to construct aryl substituted alcohols and amines

Aryl-substituted alcohols and amines have been efficiently constructed by reductive radical-radical cross-coupling between aldehydes, ketones and imines with electron-deficient arenes under visible-light catalysis. The strategy of polarity inversion of the C=X bond (X = O, N) avoids the use of air- and water-sensitive reagents, tolerates various functional groups and produces the desired products in yields up to 99% at room temperature.