Chemo-, Regio-, and Stereoselective Trifluoromethylation of Styrenes via Visible Light-Driven Single-Electron Transfer (SET) and Triplet-Triplet Energy Transfer (TTET) Processes

A process for tunable and chemo-, regio-, and stereoselective photocatalytic trifluoromethylation of styrenes was developed. Thermodynamically stable E-trifluoromethylated alkenes were prepared using Tognis reagent in the presence of Ru(bpy)(3)Cl-2 center dot 6H(2)O under visible light irradiation, whereas less thermodynamically stable Z-trifluoromethylated alkenes were obtained by employing Umemotos reagent and photocatalyst Ir(ppy)(3).