A Multi-Component Strategy for the Synthesis of Complex Aliphatic Amines using Photo-redox Catalysis

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Alkylamines are ubiquitous amongst pharmaceuticals, small-molecule biological probes, natural products and pre-clinical candidates1. Despite their importance, amine synthesis is still dominated by two methods: N-alkylation and carbonyl reductive amination2. The increasing demand for 'sp3-rich' molecules in drug-discovery3 continues to drive development of practical catalytic methods to synthesize complex saturated alkylamines4-6. In particular, processes that transform diverse, readily-available feedstocks into structurally diverse sp3-rich architectures provides a strategic advantage in complex alkylamine synthesis. Here, we propose a multicomponent reductive photocatalytic technology that combines readily-available dialkylamines, carbonyls and radical acceptor feedstocks to build architecturally complex and functionally diverse tertiary alkylamines in a single step. This process involves a visible-light-mediated reduction of in-situ generated iminium ions, selectively furnishing previously inaccessible alkyl-substituted alpha-amino radicals, which engage radical acceptors and lead to C(sp3)-C(sp3) bond formation. The potential of this operationally straightforward reaction suggests a broad functional group tolerance, could facilitate the synthesis of drug-like amines not readily accessible by other methods and would be amenable to late-stage functionalization applications, making it of interest in pharmaceutical research and other areas.