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Updated: Sep 3, 2025

A Microwave-Assisted Direct Heteroarylation of Ketones Using Transition Metal Catalysis
Published on: February 16, 2020
Blue-Light-Induced Iron-Catalyzed α-Alkylation of Ketones
Marie-Samira Abdallah1, Nicolas Joly1,2, Sylvain Gaillard1
1Normandie Univ., LCMT, ENSICAEN, UNICAEN, CNRS, 6 boulevard du Maréchal Juin, 14000 Caen, France.
Abstract:
We report a visible-light-induced iron-catalyzed α-alkylation of ketones. The photocatalytic system is based on the single diaminocyclopentadienone iron tricarbonyl complex. Two catalytic intermediates of this complex are able to harvest light, allowing the synthesis of substituted aromatic and aliphatic ketones at room temperature using the borrowing hydrogen strategy in the presence of various substituted primary alcohols as alkylating reagents. Preliminary mechanistic studies unveil the role of light for both the dehydrogenation and reduction step.
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