Photoredox/Nickel Dual Catalysis Enables the Synthesis of Alkyl Cyclopropanes via C(sp³)–C(sp³) Cross Electrophile Coupling of Unactivated Alkyl Electrophiles

Abstract

A facile synthesis of mono-, 1,1- and 1,2-disubstituted cyclopropanes via visible light-mediated photoredox/nickel dual catalysis is demonstrated. The challenging intramolecular C(sp³)-C(sp³) cross-electrophile coupling of readily available unactivated 1,3-dialkyl electrophiles was performed under mild conditions that allowed traditionally reactive functional groups to be included. Mechanistic inspection and control experiments revealed the importance of dual catalysis and that the reaction proceeds via a stepwise oxidative addition followed by an intramolecular S_N2 reaction.