Decarboxylative C–H Alkylation of Heteroarene N‑Oxides by Visible Light/Copper Catalysis

This paper reports a highly site-selective alkylation of heteroarene N-oxides using hypervalent iodine­(III) carboxylates to serve as an alkylating agent in the presence of a cheap copper catalyst under visible light conditions. This mild method proceeds at room temperature in an air atmosphere and can withstand various heteroarene N-oxides as well as various primary, secondary, and tertiary alkyl carboxylic acids. It also provides a practical method for enabling the rapid conversion of commercially available raw materials into medically relevant “drug-like” molecules.