Photodecarboxylative addition of carboxylates and α-keto carboxylates to phthalimides

Abstract

Intermolecular photoinduced decarboxylative additions of formate and a series of alkyl carboxylates as well as α-keto carboxylates to N-substituted phthalimides 1a-c and N-phthaloyl amino acid esters 3a-i gave hydroxy phthalimidines 2a-2j, 6a, b, 9 and hydroxy phthalimidine methyl esters 4a-4i in moderate to high yields. Only in one case (adamantane derivative 10) imide-catalyzed decarboxylation to give the corresponding hydrocarbon was observed