Herein we describe a novel, visible light-induced tandem radical addition-cyclization of alkenyl aldehydes with α-bromocarbonyl compounds. A set of cyclic ketones, including indanones, cyclopentenones, 3,4-dihydronaphthalen-1(2H)-ones, and chroman-4-ones, are synthesized at room temperature with high efficiency and good functional group compatibility. It represents the first report on the catalytic 1,2-acylalkylation of unactivated alkenes.

A room-temperature and one-pot synthesis of ε-CF3-substituted amides via the copper-catalyzed trifluoromethylation of alkenes with redox-neutral remote amidation of aldehydes is described. This reaction is featured by an unprecedented 1,5-H atom abstraction from aldehydic C-H bonds by α-CF3-alkyl radicals resulting from the radical trifluoromethylation of alkenes, thus enabling a new possibility of the trifluoromethylation-initiated remote sp(2) C-H functionalization.

Copper-catalyzed cascade annulation of γ,δ-unsaturated α-bromocarbonyls with biaryl or (Z)-arylvinylacetylenes is presented, giving an expeditious access to dibenzocycloheptanes and related compounds in moderate to high yields. It provides a novel method for the one-pot synthesis of cycloheptane and cycloheptene-fused polycyclic scaffolds featuring a rare 7-endo-trig radical cyclization.

Substrates containing aldehyde and alkene functionalities undergo trifluoromethylation and amidation under mild conditions in an one‐pot manner.