Visible Light Induced Bifunctional Rhodium Catalysis for Decarbonylative Coupling of Imides with Alkynes

Transition metal catalyzed decarbonylation offers a distinct synthetic strategy for new chemical bond formation. However, the pi-backbonding between CO pi* orbitals and metal center d-orbitals impedes ligand dissociation to regenerate the catalyst under mild reaction conditions. Developed here is visible light induced rhodium catalysis for decarbonylative coupling of imides with alkynes under ambient conditions. Initial mechanistic studies suggest that the rhodium complex simultaneously serves as the catalytic center and photosensitizer for decarbonylation. This visible light promoted catalytic decarbonylation strategy offers new opportunities for reviewing old transformations with ligand dissociation as a rate-determining step.