Visible-Light Enabled Room-Temperature Dealkylative Imidation Of Secondary And Tertiary Amines Promoted By Aerobic Ruthenium Catalysis

Employing sulfonyl azide as a nitrogen donor, a visible-light-enabled aerobic dealkylative imidation of tertiary and secondary amines involving C(sp(3))-C(sp(3)) bond cleavage with moderate to excellent yields at room temperature is described. It has been demonstrated that this imidation could take place spontaneously upon visible-light irradiation, and could be facilitated considerably by a ruthenium photocatalyst and oxygen. An alternative mechanism to the previous aerobic photoredox pathway has also been proposed.