Hypervalent iodine reagents enable chemoselective deboronative/decarboxylative alkenylation by photoredox catalysis.

Chemoselective C(sp(3))-C(sp(2)) coupling reactions under mild reaction conditions are useful for synthesizing alkyl-substituted alkenes having sensitive functional groups. Reported here is a visible-light-induced chemoselective alkenylation through a deboronation/decarboxylation sequence under neutral aqueous reaction conditions at room temperature. This reaction represents the first hypervalent-iodine-enabled radical decarboxylative alkenylation reaction, and a novel benziodoxole-vinyl carboxylic acid reaction intermediate was isolated. This C(sp(3))-C(sp(2)) coupling reaction leads to aryl-and acyl-substituted alkenes containing various sensitive functional groups. The excellent chemoselectivity, stable reactants, and neutral aqueous reaction conditions of the reaction suggest future biomolecule applications.