Visible light-mediated photocatalyst-free N-demethylation of aryl tertiary amines

A visible light-mediated photocatalyst-free N-demethylation of aryl tertiary amines via EDA mechanism is described here. The N-demethylation of the arylamine is effectively enabled by forming an EDA complex of amine and PIDA, giving the corresponding secondary amines in moderate to good yields under irradiation with visible light. Relevant mechanistic experiments have demonstrated the reaction process is mediated by EDA complexes.