Visible-light induced Mallory reaction of tertiary benzanilides via iminium intermediates

The Mallory reaction, which involves the photocyclization of stilbenes/diarylethenes and their analogues into polycyclic aromatics, is of significant synthetic importance. However, its application to tertiary benzanilides has not been explored to date. Besides, most of the reported Mallory reactions require ultraviolet irradiation. In this study, we show the first Mallory reaction of tertiary benzanilides promoted by visible light