Intramolecular, Visible-Light-Mediated Aza Paterno-Buchi Reactions of Unactivated Alkenes

Azetidines are of particular interest in medicinal chemistry for their favorable properties, including increased resistance to oxidative metabolism and lower lipophilicity. The recent development of [2 + 2] reactions has significantly expanded the limited repertoire of methods for azetidine synthesis, but access to more complex architectures still requires further development. Herein, we report a visible-light-enabled intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition of unactivated alkenes that proved previously unreactive to access tricyclic azetidines with 3D complex structures and high levels of saturation.

Automated summary

Azetidines are of interest in medicinal chemistry due to their favorable properties, such as increased resistance to oxidative metabolism and lower lipophilicity. The recent development of [2 + 2] reactions has expanded the methods for azetidine synthesis, but further development is needed to access more complex structures.