Iron-Catalyzed Photoinduced Remote C(sp³)–H Amination of Free Alcohols

Abstract

We report a general photocatalytic protocol for the remote C(sp³)-H bond amination of free aliphatic alcohols. The electron transfer between the abundant and inexpensive catalyst FeCl₃ and simple alkanols under blue LED irradiation enables the alkoxy radical formation under mild redox-neutral conditions, with no need for additional oxidant and prefunctionalization. The subsequent selective 1,5-hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) and amination provide a simple and efficient way to access molecular complexity from readily available and bulk alcohols.