Authors
Pengfei Han, Eric R Waclawik, Steven E Bottle, Qi Xiao, Xuheng Yang, Cheng-An Tao, Jianfang Wang, Huai Yong Zhu
Published in
JACS Au. Volume 6. Issue 6. Pages 3461-3472. Jun 22, 2026. Epub Jun 01, 2026.
Abstract
Developing clean and efficient methods for carbon-carbon bond formation remains a central challenge in sustainable chemistry. Here, we report a unified photocatalytic strategy for direct arene arylation and alkylation under visible light. By integrating silver iodide (AgI) nanoparticles with magnesium-aluminum-layered double hydroxide (Mg2Al1-LDH), we achieve efficient cross-coupling of arenes with both aryl and unactivated alkyl iodides under mild conditions and natural sunlight. This system operates without external bases or photoredox cocatalysts and tolerates base-sensitive functional groups, producing only water and iodine as byproducts. Mechanistic studies reveal a synergistic process in which photogenerated electrons reduce halides via an inner-sphere transfer mechanism, while photogenerated holes oxidize surface hydroxyl groups to generate ·OH radicals. These radicals enable hydrogen abstraction and C-H bond activation, completing the coupling process. The availability of surface hydroxyls and oxygen vacancies, along with favorable band alignment between AgI and Mg2Al1-LDH, is critical to catalyst performance. This work demonstrates the first example of a single catalyst system enabling both arylation and alkylation through a unified radical mechanism, offering a sustainable platform for light-driven C-H functionalization and expanding the frontiers of green synthetic chemistry.
PMID:
42358701
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 26 Jun 2026.
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