Efficient photocatalytic chemoselective and stereoselective C–C bond formation over AuPd@N-rich carbon nitride

Abstract

Heterogeneous chemoselective or stereoselective C–C coupling reactions remain extremely challenging in traditional organic synthesis. Here, we constructed a AuPd@N-rich carbon nitride (NRCN) photocatalyst through simple ammonia solution heat treatment of carbon nitride and then AuPd NP loading. AuPd@NRCN exhibited extraordinary light color promoted catalytic performance in C–C bond formation under visible light in air. Surprisingly, both high chemoselectivity to unsymmetrical Ullmann biaryl products and satisfactory stereoselectivity to Z-type Heck reaction products could be achieved by changing the light source color. Various substrates exhibited great potential for the economical synthesis of unsymmetrical biaryl products and Z-type olefins. Efficient visible light promoted C–I bond activation accompanied with improved photocatalytic coupling reaction efficiency over AuPd@NRCN was verified firstly by in situ DRIFTS. Considering that the Ullmann cross-coupling reaction is a multi-photon reaction, the improved photocatalytic performance in the Ullmann cross-coupling reaction using a combination of light sources with different colors might be due to the activation of different substrates and/or steps requiring different energies, and the combination of the two energy sources was beneficial for improving the activation efficiency of different substrates and/or steps. The activation of iodobenzene and styrene in the Heck reaction with light was also beneficial to the formation of the stilbene product. The light color promoted chemoselectivity and stereoselectivity are expected to have profound impact on organic synthetic methodology improvement.