A visible light-mediated strategy for the regioselective synthesis of β-trichloromethyl alcohols through a three-component reaction of alkenes with CCl₄ and TBHP under mild blue LED irradiation is disclosed.The protocol operates under ambient conditions without transition metals and achieves broad substrate scope with good functional group tolerance.

Abstract

A visible light-driven, metal-free strategy for the regioselective synthesis of β-trichloromethyl alcohols has been developed through a three-component reaction of alkenes with CCl₄ and TBHP under mild blue LED irradiation. This method achieves vicinal trichloromethyl hydroxylation with broad substrate scope and good functional group tolerance. Mechanistic studies revealed a radical pathway in which TBHP acts as the hydroxyl donor. The protocol operates under ambient conditions without transition metals, offering a sustainable and scalable platform for synthesizing polyhalogenated building blocks with potential applications in medicinal chemistry and synthetic transformations.