Visible-Light-Induced Copper-Catalyzed Intermolecular Three-Component Difluoroalkyl Thiocyanidation of Alkenes

In this report, we develop a new strategy for visible-light-induced,copper-catalyzed three-component difluoroalkyl thiocyanidation ofalkenes to construct a series of important difluorothiocyanate compounds.The new approach can also be applied to perfluorothiocyanate compounds,even target molecules containing drug/natural product skeletons. Mechanisticstudies provide that the copper complex plays a dual role, as boththe photoredox catalyst for electron transfer and the cross-couplingcatalyst for C-SCN bond formation.

Automated summary

In this report, we introduce a new strategy for the synthesis of difluorothiocyanate compounds through visible-light-induced, copper-catalyzed three-component thiocyanation of alkenes. This approach is versatile and can be extended to perfluorothiocyanate compounds and even complex molecules with drug/natural product skeletons. Mechanistic studies reveal that the copper complex plays a dual role as a photoredox catalyst for electron transfer and a cross-coupling catalyst for C-SCN bond formation.