Iron‐Photocatalyzed C(sp3)–H Phosphonylation of Alkanes
Ya Dong, Wangyujing Han, Hanwen Zhang, Santosh K Pagire, Harry Meats, Adam Noble, Varinder K Aggarwal · 2026
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Description
Ya Dong and co-authors report a light-driven method to attach phosphorus groups directly to unactivated carbon-hydrogen bonds in alkanes, published in 2026. The products, alkyl phosphonate esters, are useful building blocks and appear in many bioactive molecules. Most methods build the carbon-phosphorus bond by swapping out an existing group, not by using a plain C-H bond.
Their method uses a hydrogen atom transfer strategy with an iron photocatalyst. The key was a new phosphite trap, built from a mandelonitrile base, whose leaving group lets the catalyst turn over well. The reaction tolerated many functional groups and favored less hindered C-H bonds. It could also install phosphonate groups late, into complex molecules, with good site selectivity.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Ya Dong, Wangyujing Han, Hanwen Zhang, Santosh K Pagire, Harry Meats, Adam Noble, Varinder K Aggarwal |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 22 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |