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Updated: Mar 17, 2026

Design, Synthesis, and Photochemical Properties of Clickable Caged Compounds
Published on: October 15, 2019
Photoinduced "Double Click" Cascade Offers Access to Complex Polyheterocycles from Readily Available Isatin-Based
William Cole Cronk1, Olga A Mukhina1, Andrei G Kutateladze1
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Denver , 2190 East Iliff Avenue, Denver, Colorado 80208, United States.
Abstract:
The cascade photoassisted synthetic strategy for accessing complex N,O-polyheterocycles of unprecedented molecular architecture is developed. It is based on intramolecular cycloadditions of aza-o-xylylenes formed in situ via excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) of o-acylanilides. The photoprecursors are synthesized via a two-step one-pot method from readily available starting materials. The photochemical cascade (one experimentally simple step) results in the formation of four new heterocyclic rings with high control of diastereoselectivity.
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