Visible‐Light‐Driven Hydrophosphorylation of Azobenzenes Enabled by trans‐to‐cis Photoisomerization

Abstract A visible‐light‐driven hydrophosphorylation of azobenzenes with diarylphosphine oxides was successfully developed. The reaction proceeded smoothly under blue light irradiation at room temperature without any photocatalyst required, providing a mild approach for this transformation with new strategy. Of important note is that the visible light‐driven trans ‐to‐ cis photoisomerization of azobenzenes was found to be the key for the process of the reaction, highlighting this underestimated reactivity of azobenzenes in visible‐light‐promoted mechanism. magnified image