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Updated: Jan 22, 2026

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Visible-Light-Induced Copper-Catalyzed Decarboxylative Coupling of Redox-Active Esters with N-Heteroarenes
Xue-Li Lyu1, Shi-Sheng Huang1, Hong-Jian Song1
1State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Research Institute of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, College of Chemistry , Nankai University , Tianjin 300071 , People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Herein we report a protocol for visible-light-induced copper-catalyzed decarboxylative coupling reactions between N-heteroarenes and redox-active esters. Various N-hydroxyphthalimide esters reacted with isoquinoline, quinoline, pyridine, pyrimidine, quinazoline, phthalazine, phenanthridine, and pyridazine to give the corresponding products in modest to excellent yields. The reactions proceed under mild conditions and have a broad scope and high functional group tolerance. Mechanistic studies revealed that the catalytic behavior of CuI photocatalyst generated in situ was consistent with that of preformed [Cu(dmp)(xantphos)]BF4.
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