Visible-Light Driven C-P Bond Formation with Recyclable Carbon Nitride Photocatalyst

The development of metal-free chemical process with recyclable heterogeneous catalyst under ambient conditions is highly desired in industrial production, especially for pharmaceutical purpose. We herein reported the efficient synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant organophosphorus(V) compounds through the coupling of readily available starting materials in the presence of insoluble carbon nitride (g-CN) as recyclable photocatalyst. These reactions showed wide functional group tolerance and were performed at room temperatures under visible-light irradiation. The heterogeneous g-CN photocatalyst could be easily separated from the crude reaction mixture and reused for several cycles without decreasing the reaction efficiency, thus implying the great potential of use in industrial manufacture for larger-scale synthesis.

Automated summary

This study reports the development of metal-free chemical processes using recyclable heterogeneous catalysts at ambient conditions, which is highly desired in pharmaceutical production. By using insoluble carbon nitride as a photocatalyst, pharmaceutically relevant organophosphorus(V) compounds were efficiently synthesized through the coupling of readily available starting materials. The photocatalyst exhibited wide functional group tolerance and the reactions were performed under visible-light irradiation at room temperatures. The recyclable g-CN photocatalyst could be easily separated and reused for multiple cycles without decreasing the reaction efficiency, indicating its great potential for larger-scale synthesis in industrial manufacturing.