Access to diverse carbonyl compounds by catalyst‐free and photoinduced aerobic cleavage of C=N bonds

Functional group interconversion is of great significance in organic synthesis. However, aerobic cleavage of C=N bonds to access carbonyl compounds still suffered from some limitations such as harsh reaction conditions, stoichiometric oxidants, poor substrate scope and use of toxic reagents. Herein, we report a catalyst‐free and photo‐induced aerobic cleavage of C=N bonds to afford diverse carbonyl compounds using oxygen from air as green oxidant. This mild methodology permits N‐tosylhydrazones converted into the corresponding carbonyl compounds including ketones, amides, aldehydes and carboxylic acids, showing broad functional group tolerance and compatibility. Moreover, the gram‐scale reaction and post‐modification of complicated molecules proved the applicability and efficiency of this strategy. Finally, a plausible mechanism was proposed based on spectroscopic investigations and detailed mechanistic studies.