Metal-Free Deoxygenation of Amine N-Oxides: Synthetic and Mechanistic Studies

We report herein an unprecedented combination of light and P(III)/P(V) redox cycling for the efficient deoxygenation of aromatic amine N-oxides. Moreover, we discovered that a large variety of aliphatic amine N-oxides can easily be deoxygenated by using only phenylsilane. These practically simple approaches proceed well under metal-free conditions, tolerate many functionalities and are highly chemoselective. Combined experimental and computational studies enabled a deep understanding of factors controlling the reactivity of both aromatic and aliphatic amine N-oxides.