Visible Light Irradiation of Acyl Oxime Esters and Styrenes Efficiently Constructs β-Carbonyl Imides by a Scission and Four-Component Reassembly Process.

Acyl radical triggered difunctionalizations of aryl olefins have been realized using oxime ester as the acyl precursor for the first time. Irradiation of fac-Ir(ppy)3 and oxime ester by visible light caused scission into three components, which recombined with olefins to yield significant β-carbonyl imides showing good functional group tolerance and high atom economy. Control experiments as well as spectroscopic and electrochemical studies revealed the efficient intermolecular reorganization of oxime ester into styrene with the aid of solvent exchange.