Access to Fully Substituted Dihydropyrimidines via Dual Copper/Photoredox-Catalyzed Domino Annulation of Oxime Esters and Imines

A domino cyclization of oxime esters and imines has been achieved by dual photoredox/copper catalysis. A variety of structurally diverse fully substituted dihydropyrimidines have been forged in 37-88% yields at room temperature. This synthetic protocol provides N-heterocycles with high molecular complexity and functional group diversity. The present reaction is amenable to gram-scale synthesis, which is expected to find potential applications in organic synthesis and drug discovery. A plausible reaction mechanism is proposed.

Automated summary

A domino cyclization of oxime esters and imines has been achieved by dual photoredox/copper catalysis, producing a variety of structurally diverse fully substituted dihydropyrimidines with high molecular complexity and functional group diversity.