Visible-light-induced dehydrogenation of dihydroquinolinones via the combination of energy transfer and hydrogen atom transfers†

Abstract

A visible-light-induced dehydrogenation of dihydroquinolinones was developed using the photocatalyst thioxanthone (TX) and oxidant tert-butyl benzoperoxoate. Various quinolinones, which constitute significant structural skeletons in organic and biological chemistry, were produced through a photocatalytic process involving energy transfer (EnT) and subsequent hydrogen atom transfers (HATs). This approach, involving a completely metal-free dehydrogenation process carried out under mild conditions, further extends the applications of TX in the sphere of photo-dehydrogenation.