Visible light mediated aerobic radical C-H phosphorization toward arylphosphonates

A visible light mediated radical C-H phosphorization of benzothiazoles with O-2 as the sole oxidant was developed towards the synthesis of various 2-diarylphosphoryl benzothiazoles. The phosphonyl radical was identified by EPR experiments. In situ P-31 NMR experiments showed that Ph2P(O)H mainly converted into the desired product and the oxidative byproduct Ph2P(O)OH.