Enantioselective α-Alkylation of Aldehydes by Photoredox Organocatalysis: Rapid Access to Pharmacophore Fragments from β-Cyanoaldehydes

The combination of photoredox catalysis and enamine catalysis has enabled the development of an enantioselective α-cyanoalkylation of aldehydes. This synergistic catalysis protocol allows for the coupling of two highly versatile yet orthogonal functionalities, allowing rapid diversification of the oxonitrile products to a wide array of medicinally relevant derivatives and heterocycles. This methodology has also been applied to the total synthesis of the lignan natural product (-)-bursehernin. A combination of photoredox catalysis and enamine catalysis has enabled the development of an enantioselective cyanoalkylation of aldehydes. This synergistic catalysis protocol makes possible the coupling of two highly versatile yet orthogonal functionalities.