Probing the Free Energy Landscape of Organophotoredox-Catalyzed Anti-Markovnikov Hydrofunctionalization of Alkenes

Experimental ¹³C kinetic isotope effects (KIEs) provide unprecedented mechanistic insight into three intermolecular anti-Markovnikov alkene hydrofunctionalization reactions─hydroesterification, hydroamination, and hydroetherification─enabled by organophotoredox catalysis. All three reactions are found to proceed via initial oxidation of the model alkenes to form a radical cation intermediate, followed by sequential nucleophilic attack and hydrogen-atom transfer to deliver the hydrofunctionalized product. A normal ¹³C KIE on the olefinic carbon that undergoes nucleophilic attack provides qualitative evidence for rate-limiting nucleophilic attack in all three reactions. Comparison to predicted ¹³C KIE values obtained from density functional theory (DFT) calculations for this step reveals that alkene oxidation has partial rate-limiting influence in hydroesterification and hydroamination, while the nucleophilic attack is solely rate-limiting in the hydroetherification reaction. The basic additive (2,6-lutidine) activates the nucleophile via deprotonation and is an integral part of the transition state for nucleophilic attack on the radical cation, providing an important design principle for the development of asymmetric versions of these reactions. A more electron-rich pyridine base (2,6-dimethoxypyridine) exhibits considerable rate enhancements in both inter- and intramolecular hydrofunctionalization reactions.