Visible Light-Induced Umpolung Synthesis of 3,3-Disubstituted Oxindoles via the Substrate-Photosensitive Strategy

3,3-Disubstituted oxindoles, forming the core of extensive bioactive natural products and drugs, attract tremendous efforts to develop efficient methods for their preparation. Here, a photocatalyst-free approach for the synthesis of 3,3-disubstituted oxindoles via a substrate-photosensitive strategy under visible light was successfully developed. Preliminary mechanistic studies illustrated that isatin-derived imines can be directly excited by visible light to generate strong oxidant states, facilitating subsequent single-electron transfer (SET) processes with Hantzsch esters to afford the corresponding α-amino radical intermediates. Thus, these α-amino radicals promote the subsequent Giese radical addition or radical/radical cross-coupling reactions to furnish diverse functionalized 3-substituted 3-aminooxindoles in high yields.