A chiral nickel DBFOX complex as a bifunctional catalyst for visible-light-promoted asymmetric photoredox reactions

The enantioselective photoredox reaction of a, b-unsaturated carbonyl compounds and tertiary/secondary a-silylamines was enabled by a readily available single NiII-DBFOX catalyst (DBFOX 1/4 4,6-bis((R)-4-phenyl4,5- dihydrooxazol-2-yl)dibenzo[b, d]furan) under visible light conditions. The non-precious chiral catalyst is involved in the photochemical process to initiate single electron transfer and at the same time provides a well-organized chiral environment for the subsequent radical transformations. Good to excellent enantioselectivities (80-99% ee) were obtained for the formation of chiral g-amino carboxylic acid derivatives and g-lactams.