A General Photocatalytic Route to Prenylation

Source abstract

Prenylation is an essential reaction on which nature relies to modify properties of molecules and build terpenoids, but remains a challenging chemical reaction. Aiming to capitalize on recent advances in photocatalysis to easily and cleanly generate a broad range of carbon based radicals, we have developed a prenyl transfer reagent that is captured by transiently generated radicals. The reagent can be made in bulk, is bench stable, and broadly applicable such that it can be used with existing photocatalytic methods with very few changes to reaction conditions. Ultimately, this provides a true drop‐in solution for prenylation, expanding the scope of substrates that can be readily prenylated.