Visible light induced oxidative C–H functionalisation of tertiary amines catalysed by the combination of graphene oxide and Rose Bengal was developed. This reaction avoids the use of stoichiometric amounts of peroxy compounds as terminal oxidants. This reaction is useful for tri-alkyl amines including chiral tertiary amines. Both cyanide and trifluoromethyl nucleophiles were shown to participate in this reaction, providing α-cyano- and α-trifluoromethylated tertiary amines.

Rose Bengal, an organic dye, was demonstrated to be a photoredox catalyst for dehydrogenative coupling reactions using visible light irradiation. α-Functionalised tertiary amines were obtained with good to excellent yields. Air is essential for this reaction and acts as the terminal oxidant. This is an environmentally friendly C–H functionalisation methodology that avoids the use of metal catalysts and stoichiometric amount of peroxo-compounds.

We report the generation of cationic N-radicals from Selectfluor® via energy transfer with anthraquinone as a photocatalyst for the fluorination of unactivated C–H bonds.

Rose Bengal, an organic dye, was used as a visible light photocatalyst to investigate novel α-oxyamination reactions between 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds and a free radical (TEMPO). Compounds that are difficult to obtain such as quaternary fluorinated compounds were synthesized using this method. This visible light photocatalytic reaction can also be performed in water.