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Updated: Jan 12, 2026

Photogeneration of N-Heterocyclic Carbenes: Application in Photoinduced Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization
Published on: November 29, 2018
Visible-Light-Induced Regioselective Thioesterification/Thiocyanation of Unactivated Alkenes Enabled by
Xu-Rui Liu1, Wen-Ping Xie1, Hong Wang2
1State Key Laboratory of Synergistic Chem-Bio Synthesis, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory for Molecular Engineering of Chiral Drugs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, P. R. China.
Abstract:
The visible-light-induced regioselective thioesterification and thiocyanation of unactivated alkenes has been successfully achieved for the first time. This transformation is facilitated by a novel pincer CCC-Ir(III) photocatalyst incorporating a spiro-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) and a 1,4-diaza ligand. A wide range of compounds bearing thioester and thiocyanate functional groups were obtained in moderate to excellent yields, with high regioselectivity. Control experiments suggest that the reaction proceeds via an energy transfer mechanism.
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