The direct conversion of industrial feedstock chemicals into highly valuable fine
chemical intermediates is of great appeal to the synthetic community as well as industrial
applications. This study reports a conceptually new radical strategy for the photocatalytic
generation of π-allyltitanium complexes from butadiene. This novel and environmentally
benign strategy enables the direct three-component allylation of carbonyls with 1,3-butadiene
and α-bromocarboxylates, providing rapid access to valuable homoallylic alcohols with
exceptional regio- and diastereoselectivity control.
Key words
photocatalysis - allylation - radical - butadiene - π-allyltitanium