Tetrahydroxydiboron-Driven Photocatalytic Three-Component Reductive Petasis Reaction

N-arylated-α-amino acid derivatives are the core structures of many important molecules. Herein, we report the tetrahydroxydiboron-driven photocatalytic three-component reductive Petasis reaction of aryl amines, glyoxalates and activated esters of aliphatic acids under mild conditions with broad substrate scope. Mechanistic studies show that tetrahydroxydiboron is used as a convenient reducing agent to generate alkyl radicals from activated esters and subsequent addition to the in situ formed imines provides N-arylated-α-amino acid derivatives.