Photo-oxidative Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling-Type Reaction of Thiophenes with α-Position of Carbonyls Using a Catalytic Amount of Molecular Iodine.

A metal-free photo-oxidative intermolecular C-H/C-H coupling reaction of thiophenes is demonstrated with carbonyls using a catalytic amount of molecular iodine. In this system, molecular oxygen in the air acted as a terminal oxidant to regenerate molecular iodine. A mechanistic study was also performed.