Dearomative Cascade Photocatalysis: Divergent Synthesis through Catalyst Selective Energy Transfer

The discovery and application of dearomative cascade photocatalysis as a strategy in complex molecule synthesis is described. Visible-light-absorbing photosensitizers were used to (sequentially) activate a 1 naphthol derived arene precursor to divergently form two different polycyclic molecular scaffolds through catalyst selective energy transfer.