Visible-light-promoted radical cyclisation of unactivated alkenes in benzimidazoles: synthesis of difluoromethyl- and aryldifluoromethyl-substituted polycyclic imidazoles

• Yujun Pang,
• Jinglan Yan,
• Nawaf Al-Maharik,
• Qian Zhang,
• Zeguo Fang and
• Dong Li

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2025, 21, 234–241, doi:10.3762/bjoc.21.15

• target products in good to excellent yields. Mechanistic studies revealed that the reaction proceeds via a radical pathway. Keywords: cyclization; difluoromethylation; hypervalent iodine; polycyclic imidazole; visible light; Introduction Organofluorine compounds continue to play important roles in