Oxidative Coupling of 4-Hydroxycoumarins with Quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones Induced by Visible Light under Aerobic Conditions

Direct and selective C(sp²)−H/C(sp²)−H cross-dehydrogenative coupling has become a promising strategy to increase molecular complexity with a high atom economy. This study describes an efficient and straightforward protocol for the regioselective C₃-H/C₃-H cross-coupling of 4-hydroxycoumarin derivatives with quinoxalin-2(1H)-ones, including late-stage modification of natural drugs, promoted by visible light under aerobic conditions at room temperature. With this approach, a wide range of hybrid drug-like molecules were prepared, using air as the terminal oxidant. Remarkably, the C₄-OH group at the coumarin ring is essential for the reaction and has been used as a handle for diverse functionalizations of the final products. Moreover, sunlight can promote the reaction under very mild and sustainable conditions, even on a gram scale. Qualitative and semi-quantitative tools were used to demonstrate the greenness advance of this methodology over previously reported ones. Several experiments were conducted to propose a plausible mechanism for this transformation.