and 5j. A series of polycyclic dearomatized products (5l–5p) were obtained from
isoquinoline derivatives with excellent yields of 88%–97% and in high dr of 8:1
to >20:1. Both a naphthyl and a phenyl also underwent the dearomatization
smoothly to afford products (5q and 5r) in 92% yield for each and 7:1 to >20:1 dr.
Furthermore, substituents adjacent to the double bond displayed high tolerance
with respect to the electron-donating (products 5s–5u) and withdrawing (products
5v–5y) phenyl rings, a furanyl (product 5z), and thienyl substituents (products 6a
and 6b), thus providing the dearomatized products in 67%–97% yield and 1.4:1 to
5:1 dr. In contrast, when an n-propyl in place of the aromatics was used, no target
product (6c) was detected. The reaction shows excellent functional group tolerance,
including a nitrile (6g), a thioether (6h), an alkenyl substituent (6i), an acetal (6j), an
N-Boc-piperidine (6k), a tetrahydropyrane (6l), a cycloheptane (6m), a cyclodode-
cane (6n), and an additional pyridine (6o). Pyridines derived from drugs and natural
products including dopamine (6p), tryptamine (6q), mexiletine (6r), and leelamine
(6s), were all dearomatized efficiently under the visible-light-sensitized conditions.
Following conclusion of the scope exploration, a simple and commercially available
organic sensitizer benzil38 (Alfa Aesar, $19.80/100 g) was identified as being capable
of catalyzing the dearomatization reaction (products 5a, 5g, 6b, 6m, 6o, and 6r) in
similar efficiency. Although in the case of product 6p, the yield was dramatically
decreased to 22%.
To further demonstrate the practicality of the dearomatization protocol, sequential
gram scale reactions were performed using the recyclable photocatalyst [Ir-F]@poly-
mer. As outlined in Figure 4A, [4+2] cycloaddition products 6m, 6n, 6r, and 5a were
produced in 1.08 g (94% yield), 1.20 g (88% yield), 1.25 g (73% yield), and 0.94 g
(76% yield), respectively. Only one portion of photocatalyst [Ir-F]@polymer was em-
ployed for these four sequential gram-scale reactions. Notably, the heterogeneous
photocatalyst was separated from the reaction mixtures by simple filtration and
washing and then reused directly without further purification. The heterogeneous
photocatalyst could be recycled at least ten times for a standard dearomative
[4+2] cycloaddition reaction without a significant drop in the yields of dearomatiza-
pyridine dearomatization products underwent facile reduction to afford diverse
(dehydro)isoquinuclidine derivatives. For example, compound 5a was converted
to dehydroisoquinuclidine
7 as a single diastereomer after treatment with
NaBH(OAc)3, followed by Ts-protection (Figure 4C). Notably, the minor isomer of
5a underwent a slower reduction than the major one and could thus be separated
by column chromatography. Starting from 5e, under Pd-catalyzed hydrogenation
condition, isoquinuclidine 8 was afforded in 96% yield and in a completely dia-
stereoselective fashion. A highly functionalized pyrrolidine-containing isoquinucli-
dine 9 was obtained in 97% yield after further treatment with LiAlH4. The polycyclic
structure of the major isomer of dehydroisoquinuclidine 11 was confirmed by X-ray
Mechanistic Investigation
To investigate mechanistic aspects of the dearomative [4+2] cycloaddition, we
performed a variety of mechanistic experiments. Firstly, the kinetic profile of a
standard reaction mixture shows that no detectable amounts of [2+2] or [3+2] cyclo-
addition products are formed at any time, whereas the E to Z isomerization of sub-
strate 4a is detected39 and both isomers are ultimately converted to 5a (Figure 5A).
Secondly, Stern–Volmer analysis reveals that the luminescence emission of homoge-
neous photocatalyst [Ir-F] is quenched efficiently by 4a, whereas no quenching
was observed with compound 12 devoid of an olefin moiety (Figure 5B). The
Chem 5, 2854–2864, November 14, 2019 2859