Visible Light-Induced Decarboxylative Alkylation of Heterocyclic Aromatics with Carboxylic Acids via Anthocyanin as a Photocatalyst.

A visible light-induced decarboxylative alkylation of heterocyclic aromatics with aliphatic carboxylic acids was developed by using anthocyanins as a photocatalyst under mild conditions. A series of alkylated heterocyclic compounds were obtained in moderate to good yields by using the metal-free decarboxylative coupling reaction under blue light. This strategy uses cheap and readily available carboxylic acids as alkylation reagents with good functional group tolerance and environmental friendliness.