Photo-organocatalytic Enantioselective Perfluoroalkylation of β-Ketoesters

The visible-light-driven, phase-transfer-catalyzed, enantioselective perfluoroalkylation and trifluoro-methylation of cyclic beta-ketoesters is described. The photo-organocatalytic process, which occurs at ambient temperature and under visible light illumination, is triggered by the photochemical activity of in situ-generated electron donor-acceptor complexes, arising from the association of chiral enolates and perfluoroalkyl iodides. Preliminary mechanistic studies are reported.