Photocatalytic Reductive Fluoroalkylation of Nitrones.

A method for the addition of fluorinated groups to nitrones using an iridium photocatalyst and ascorbic acid as a stoichiometric reducing agent is described. The reaction proceeds through the generation of fluorinated radicals by single-electron reduction of fluorinated alkyl iodides with an iridium complex mediated by visible light. Besides perfluorinated reagents, partially fluorinated alkyl iodides can also be effectively used leading to the products, which cannot be obtained by conventional nucleophilic addition reactions. The resulting hydroxylamines can be readily converted to valuable fluorinated amines by reduction with zinc.