Combining Rhodium and Photoredox Catalysis for C-H Functionalizations of Arenes: Oxidative Heck Reactions with Visible Light

Direct, oxidative metal-catalyzed C-H functionalizations of arenes are important in synthetic organic chemistry. Often, (over-) stoichoimetric amounts of organic or inorganic oxidants have to be used in these reactions. The combination of rhodium and photoredox catalysis with visible light allows the direct C-H olefination of arenes. Small amounts (1 mol%) of a photoredox catalyst resulted in the efficient C-H functionalization of a broad range of substrates under mild conditions.