Abstract
Heterocycles are one of the largest groups of organic moieties with significant medicinal, chemical, and industrial applications. Herein, we report the discovery and development of visible-light-induced, synergistic excited-state copper catalysis using a combination of Cu(IPr)I as a catalyst and rac-BINAP as a ligand, which produces more than 10 distinct classes of heterocycles. The reaction tolerates a broad array of functional groups and complex molecular scaffolds, including derivatives of peptides, natural products, and marketed drugs. Preliminary mechanistic investigation suggests in situ generations of [Cu(BINAP)(2) ](+) and [Cu(IPr)(2) ](+) catalysts that work cooperatively under visible-light irradiation to facilitate catalytic carbo-aroylation of unactivated alkenes, affording a wide range of useful heterocycles.