Graphene oxide and Rose Bengal: oxidative C-H functionalisation of tertiary amines using visible light

Visible light induced oxidative C-H functionalisation of tertiary amines catalysed by the combination of graphene oxide and Rose Bengal was developed. This reaction avoids the use of stoichiometric amounts of peroxy compounds as terminal oxidants. This reaction is useful for tri-alkyl amines including chiral tertiary amines. Both cyanide and trifluoromethyl nucleophiles were shown to participate in this reaction, providing alpha-cyano- and alpha-trifluoromethylated tertiary amines.