Alkyne Difunctionalization by Dual Gold/Photoredox Catalysis

Highly selective tandem nucleophilic addition/cross-coupling reactions of alkynes have been developed using visible-light-promoted dual gold/photoredox catalysis. The simultaneous oxidation of Au-I and coordination of the coupling partner by photo-generated aryl radicals, and the use of catalytically inactive gold precatalysts allows for high levels of selectivity for the cross-coupled products without competing hydrofunctionalization or homocoupling. As demonstrated in representative arylative Meyer-Schuster and hydration reactions, this work expands the scope of dual gold/photoredox catalysis to the largest class of substrates for gold catalysts and benefits from the mild and environmentally attractive nature of visible-light activation.