N,N,N',N'-Tetramethylethylenediamine-Enabled PhotoredoxCatalyzed C-H Methylation of N-Heteroarenes

Aiming at the valuable methylation process, readily available and inexpensive N, N, N', N'- tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) was first identified as a new methyl source in photoredox-catalyzed transformation in this work. By virtue of this simple methylating reagent, a facile and practical protocol for the direct C-H methylation of N-heteroarenes was developed, featuring mild reaction conditions, broad substrate scope, and scalability. Mechanistic studies disclosed that a sequential photoredox, base-assisted proton shift, fragmentation, and tautomerization process was essentially involved.