Minisci C-H Alkylation of Heteroarenes Enabled by Dual Photoredox/Bromide Catalysis in Micellar Solutions*.

Aromatic heterocycles are omnipresent structural motifs in various natural products, pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. This work describes a photocatalytic Minisci-type C-H functionalization of heteroarenes with non-activated alkyl bromides. The reaction avoids stoichiometric radical-promoters, oxidants, or acids, and is conducted using blue LEDs as the light source. The reactive carbon-centered alkyl radicals are generated by merging the photoredox approach with bromide anion co-catalysis and spatial pre-aggregation of reacting species in the micellar aqueous solutions. The obtained data highlight the critical importance of microstructuring and organization of the components in the reaction mixture.