Regiospecific Synthesis of 1‐Trifluoromethylisoquinolines Enabled by Photoredox Somophilic Vinyl Isocyanide Insertion

Abstract A strategy has been developed for the regiospecific synthesis of 1‐trifluoromethylisoquinoline derivatives. This strategy is enabled by a photoredox vinyl isocyanide insertion with the help of Umemoto’s reagent. The methodology presented here provides an access to highly fuctionalized 1‐trifluoromethylisoquinolines regiospecifically under mild conditions in good‐to‐excellent chemical yields. A detailed mechanism is proposed, which is supported by experiments and theoretical calculations. magnified image