Synthetic applications of photochemical decarbonylation of oxetanone and azetidinone

Previously unexplored decarbonylative photochemistry of 3-oxetanone and N-Boc-3- azetidinone is described. Dipoles derived from both compounds undergo [3+2] cycloaddition with a variety of alkenes to produce substituted tetrahydrofurans and pyrrolidines, respectively. The reaction has a sufficiently wide scope to produce scaffolds that were either previously inaccessible or difficult to synthesize, thereby providing experimental access to new chemical space.