Decarboxylative Elimination of N-Acyl Amino Acids via Photoredox/Cobalt Dual Catalysis

A dual-catalytic strategy for the synthesis of enamides and enecarbamates directly from easily accessible and inexpensive amino acids has been realized. This mild and efficient protocol makes use of an organic photoredox catalyst and a cobaloxime catalyst to achieve decarboxylative elimination using hydrogen evolution to drive the oxidation. Thus, the reaction occurs without a stoichiometric oxidant or the forcing conditions previously employed in attempts to achieve similar eliminations.