Photo-Ritter Reaction of Arylmethyl Bromides in Acetonitrile

The photo-Ritter reaction of five arylmethyl bromides can occur in acetonitrile to give acetamides. The intermediates, carbocations, which are formed from subsequent electron transfer between the radical pairs generated from initial homolytic cleavage of the C–Br bond, are trapped by acetonitrile, and subsequent hydrolysis generates the corresponding acetamides.