Alcohols as alkylating agents in heteroarene C–H functionalization

Redox processes and radical intermediates are found in many biochemical processes, including deoxyribonucleotide synthesis and oxidative DNA damage(1). One of the core principles that underlies DNA biosynthesis is the radical-mediated elimnation of H(2)O to deoxygenate ribonucleotides, an example of ‘spin-center shift’ (SCS)(2), during which an alcohol C–O bond is cleaved, resulting in a carbon-centered radical intermediate. While SCS is a well-understood biochemical process, it is underutilized by the synthetic organic chemistry community. We wondered whether it would be possible to take advantage of this naturally occurring process to accomplish mild, non-traditional alkylations using alcohols as radical precursors. Considering traditional radical-based alkylation methods require the use of stoichiometric oxidants, elevated temperatures, or peroxides(3–7), the development of a mild protocol using simple and abundant alkylating agents would have significant utility in the synthesis of diversely functionalized pharmacophores. In this manuscript, we describe the successful execution of this idea via the development of a dual catalytic alkylation of heteroarenes using alcohols as mild alkylating reagents. This method represents the first broadly applicable use of unactivated alcohols as latent alkylating reagents, achieved via the successful merger of photoredox and hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) catalysis. The utility of this multi-catalytic protocol has been demonstrated through the late-stage functionalization of the medicinal agents, fasudil and milrinone.