Synthesis of [60]fullerene-fused dihydroindolizines via copper-catalyzed dearomative N-heteroannulation†

A novel copper-catalyzed approach for the construction of [60]fullerene-fused dihydroindolizine derivatives has been developed through dearomative N-heteroannulation of [60]fullerene with electron-withdrawing group-substituted 2-picolines. A plausible reaction mechanism has been proposed. Additionally, a representative fullerene product can be applied in organic solar cells as the third component.