Enantioselective catalytic remote perfluoroalkylation of α-branched enals driven by light.

Herein, we report a photochemical organocatalytic method for the asymmetric introduction of perfluoroalkyl fragments (including the valuable trifluoromethyl moiety) at the remote γ-position of α-branched enals. The chemistry exploits the ability of extended enamines (dienamines) to form photoactive electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complexes with perfluoroalkyl iodides, which under blue light irradiation generate radicals through an electron transfer mechanism. The use of a chiral organocatalyst, derived from cis -4-hydroxy-l-proline, secures a consistently high stereocontrol while inferring complete site selectivity for the more distal γ position of the dienamines.