Photoinduced Oxidative Formylation of N,N-Dimethylanilines with Molecular Oxygen without External Photocatalyst.

A photoinduced oxidative formylation of N,N-dimethylanilines with molecular oxygen in the absence of an external photocatalyst was developed and provided the corresponding formamides in good yields under mild reaction conditions. Investigations indicated that both the starting material and product act as photosensitizers and that 1O2 coexists with O2•- during the reaction through energy transfer and single electron transfer process.