Scalable light-driven deuteration of N-heteroarenes over atomically dispersed palladium
摘要
Deuterated N-heteroarenes are important for applications in pharmaceuticals and materials science. However, their synthesis from hydrogen isotope exchange reactions requires expensive isotopic sources (D2, C2H5OD, C6D6), metal complexes or hazardous conditions (≥120 °C and 20 bar H2). Here we demonstrate a photocatalytic synthetic route to deuterated N-heteroarenes in D2O at room temperature under 410 nm irradiation and inert atmosphere over an atomically dispersed palladium photocatalyst (Pd1/TiO2). This method demonstrates hydrogen isotope exchange of 62 N-heteroarenes with high deuterium incorporation (0.55–4.77 deuterium per molecule). By recycling used photocatalysts and D2O, up to 1.157 kg (11.93 mol) deuterated 2-aminopyrimidine-4,6-d2 (90–99% deuterium incorporation) is produced and isolated using only 4.5 litres D2O (249 mol, 19.7 equiv.). Mechanism investigations reveal that partially reduced single-atom Pd species, in situ formed via photo-generated electrons, could be the main active sites for photocatalytic hydrogen isotope exchange.