Direct cross-coupling between atkenes and tetrahydrofuran with a platinum-loaded titanium oxide photocatalyst

A Pt-loaded TiO2 photocatalyst successfully catalyzed the direct cross-coupling between various alkenes and tetrahydrofuran (THF) without any additional oxidizing agent. The reaction between cyclohexene and THF gave three cross-coupling products, namely, 2-cyclohexyltetrahydrofuran (A), 2-(cyclohex-2-en-1-yl)tetrahydrofuran (B) and 2-(cyclohex-1-en-1-yl)tetrahydrofuran (C), along with gaseous hydrogen. The mechanistic study revealed that these products were formed through different individual mechanisms: successive addition of two radical species, a 2-tetrahydrofuranyl radical and a hydrogen radical, to the double bond of cyclohexene for A, coupling of a 3-cyclohexenyl radical and a 2-tetrahydrofuranyl radical for B, and 2-tetrahydrofuranyl radical addition and hydrogen radical elimination at the double bond of cyclohexene for C. Among these three mechanisms, those for B and C are dehydrogenative. In this photocatalytic reaction system, since the cyclohexene molecule has enough reactivity, due to the localized pi electron density, the Pt nanoparticles loaded on the TiO2 function not as a metal catalyst but as an electron receiver to enhance the charge separation, although the dehydrogenative cross-coupling of benzene with THF requires Pd metal catalysis.