Site-selective arene C-H amination via photoredox catalysis

Lighting the way to aryl C-N bonding Medicinal chemists like to add N bonds to the C atoms of aromatic rings to make bioactive compounds. By harnessing the energy in visible light, Romero et al. made these links and transformed C-H into C-N bonds. They used a blue-absorbing acridinium ion to activate a ring C for an incoming N partner. A nitroxyl radical co-catalyst (TEMPO) then choreographed the transfer of the H atom to O. The reaction worked for a broad range of substrates, including ammonium as a N source. Science , this issue p. 1326