Photorelease of Primary Aliphatic and Aromatic Amines by Visible-Light-Induced Electron Transfer

Visible-light-absorbing tris(bipyridyl)ruthenium(II) has been used to mediate electron transfer to N-methylpicolinium carbamates that undergo C-O bond fragmentation followed by spontaneous carbon dioxide release to give free amines. Release of several aliphatic and aromatic primary amines has been demonstrated under mild conditions using visible light.