Visible Light Photoredox Aziridination of Chalcones

Abstract The aziridination of chalcones with iminoiodinanes under photoredox conditions has been reported. The reaction proceeds through nitrene radical anion intermediate generated from iminoiodinanes. The trapping of nitrene radical anions by chalcones afforded trans ‐aziridine products exclusively. The scope of the reaction in terms of both the substrates is considerably wide and in most of the cases trans ‐3‐aryl‐aziridine‐2‐ketones were isolated in good yields. The reaction is challenging due to the electron‐deficient nature of the substrate, making this only the second example (after trifluoromethyl alkenes) of photocatalytic aziridination of electron‐deficient double bonds.