Bismuth radical catalysis in the activation and coupling of redox-active electrophiles

Radical cross-coupling reactions represent a revolutionary tool to make C(sp3)-C and C(sp3)-heteroatom bonds by means of transition metals and photoredox or electrochemical approaches. However, the use of main-group elements to harness this type of reactivity has been little explored. Here we show how a low-valency bismuth complex is able to undergo one-electron oxidative addition with redox-active alkyl-radical precursors, mimicking the behaviour of first-row transition metals. This reactivity paradigm for bismuth gives rise to well-defined oxidative addition complexes, which could be fully characterized in solution and in the solid state. The resulting Bi(III)-C(sp3) intermediates display divergent reactivity patterns depending on the α-substituents of the alkyl fragment. Mechanistic investigations of this reactivity led to the development of a bismuth-catalysed C(sp3)-N cross-coupling reaction that operates under mild conditions and accommodates synthetically relevant NH-heterocycles as coupling partners.