A Metal‐Free Photochemical Atom Transfer Radical Addition of CBr₄ onto Alkenes as a Key Step for Their Conversion to Propargylamines

Abstract

Α green and sustainable metal‐free photochemical protocol for the atom transfer radical addition (ATRA) of carbon tetrabromide onto alkenes was developed. Phenylglyoxylic acid was employed as the photoinitiator to promote the water‐mediated anti‐Markovnikov photochemical addition. A vast variety of alkenes was employed successfully, providing the corresponding products in good to high yields with excellent regioselectivity. The photochemical protocol found an application towards the three‐step synthesis of secondary or tertiary propargylamines starting from alkenes.