Photoredox-Mediated Direct Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling of Heteroarenes and Amines

A photoredox-mediated direct cross-dehydrogenative coupling reaction to accomplish alpha-aminoalkylation of N-hetero-arenes is reported. This mild reaction has a broad substrate scope, offers the first general method for synthesis of aminoalkylated N-heteroarenes without the need for substrate prefunctionalization, and is scalable to the gram level. Furthermore, the reaction was found to be applicable to other hydrogen donors besides amines (i.e., ethers, an aldehyde, a formamide, p-xylene, and alkanes), thus enabling the preparation of N-heteroarenes bearing various types of substituents.