Photocatalyzed Cascade Hydrogen Atom Transfers for Assembly of Multi-Substituted α-SCF 3 and α-SCF 2 H Cyclopentanones.

A photocatalyzed formal (3+2) cycloaddition has been developed to construct original polysubstituted α-SCF 3 cyclopentanones in a regio- and diastereoselective manner. This building block approach leverages trifluoromethylthio alkynes and branched/linear aldehydes, as readily available reaction partners, in consecutive hydrogen atom transfers and C-C bond formations. Difluoromethylthio alkynes are also compatible substrates. Furthermore, the potential for telescoped reaction starting from alcohols instead of aldehydes was demonstrated, as well as process automatization and scale-up under continuous microflow conditions. This prompted density functional theory (DFT) calculations to support a radical-mediated cascade process.