Dedicated to Professor Albert Padwa on the occasion of his 80th birthday
Published as part of the ISHC Conference Special Section
Abstract
A convenient method for the synthesis of substituted pyrazines from vinyl azides has
been developed. This method is enabled by a dual-energy and electron-transfer strategy
by visible-light photocatalysis. Initially, vinyl azides are activated by a triplet
sensitization process from an excited ruthenium photocatalyst in the presence of water
to form dihydropyrazines, followed by a single-electron-transfer (SET) process under
oxygen (air) atmosphere that leads to the tetrasubstituted pyrazines in good to excellent
yields.
Keywords
visible-light photocatalysis - pyrazines - synthetic methods - vinyl azides - photocascade
process