A metal-free route to substituted imidazolidines via ring-opening cyclization (ROC) of activated aziridines with N-benzylanilines: DA-COP catalyzed photo-oxidative C–H activation†

Abstract

A metal-free, conjugated organic polymer (TPA-PQ)-catalyzed intramolecular C–H functionalization strategy for the synthesis of imidazolidines in the presence of light and O₂ is reported. This heterogeneous catalytic protocol is an alternative to the traditional metal-based photocatalysis strategy. DA-COP (TPA-PQ) contains TPA as the donor unit (D) and a phenanthrenequinone derivative as the acceptor unit (A), thus helping the electron movement in the conjugated system. TPA-PQ has shown excellent catalytic activity, stability, and reusability.