59588-58-8Relevant academic research and scientific papers
C(sp3)-H methylation enabled by peroxide photosensitization and Ni-mediated radical coupling
Vasilopoulos, Aristidis,Krska, Shane W.,Stahl, Shannon S.
, p. 398 - 403 (2021/05/06)
The “magic methyl” effect describes the change in potency, selectivity, and/or metabolic stability of a drug candidate associated with addition of a single methyl group. We report a synthetic method that enables direct methylation of C(sp3)-H bonds in diverse drug-like molecules and pharmaceutical building blocks. Visible light-initiated triplet energy transfer promotes homolysis of the O-O bond in di-tert-butyl or dicumyl peroxide under mild conditions. The resulting alkoxyl radicals undergo divergent reactivity, either hydrogen-atom transfer from a substrate C-H bond or generation of a methyl radical via b-methyl scission. The relative rates of these steps may be tuned by varying the reaction conditions or peroxide substituents to optimize the yield of methylated product arising from nickel-mediated cross-coupling of substrate and methyl radicals.
