Identification of Bond-Weakening Spirosilane Catalyst for Photoredox α-C-H Alkylation of Alcohols

The development of catalyst-controlled site-selective C(sp(3))-H functionalization is a current major challenge in organic synthesis. This paper describes DFT-guided identification of pentavalent silicate species as a novel bond-weakening catalyst for the alpha-C-H bonds of alcohols together with a photoredox catalyst and a hydrogen atom transfer catalyst. Specifically, Martin's spirosilane accelerated alpha-C-H alkylation of alcohols.