Visible Light instead of Transition Metal: Electron Donor Acceptor Complex Enabled Cross‐Coupling of Aryl Halides with Active Methylene Compounds

Abstract An arylation of anions of active methylene compounds with aryl halides provides an access to synthetically versatile α‐arylated 1,3‐diketones, β‐keto esters, β‐keto nitriles, β‐cyano esters, etc. Previously, these C−C cross‐coupling reactions have been accomplished only using transition metal‐based catalysts. Herein, we demonstrate that these arylations can be successfully realized under catalyst‐free conditions employing the electron donor‐acceptor (EDA) complex photoactivation strategy. The protocol was further optimized for a semi‐one pot synthesis of indole derivatives via an intramolecular C−C coupling.