With the above optimal conditions in hand, we further examined the scope of this visible-light mediated three-component reaction of
α-diazoesters, NaSCN, and cyclic ethers. As shown in
Scheme 2, in general, the reaction of
α-diazoesters with various electron-donating and electron-withdrawing substituents on the phenyl ring were efficiently converted into the corresponding products
4b-
4m in moderate to good yields. Notably, some functional groups such as -Cl, -F, -Br, -CF
3, -C(O)OMe and -CN groups could be well accommodated in the present procedure, which could be further utilized for subsequent modification. Furthermore, the reaction could also be extended to heteroarylcycle
α-diazoester, and the desired product
4n could be obtained in 47% yield. Moreover, a series of substituents at ester group of
α-diazoester were also examined. It was found that alkyl groups such as ethyl, isopropyl, isobutyl, 2-phenylethyl, benzyl, isopentyl, and allyl groups were all compatible with this process to give the corresponding products
4o-
4u in 52%-70% yields. Unfortunately, the reaction was not expanded to other diazo compounds such as 2-diazo-1-phenylbutane-1, 3-dione. Finally, other cyclic ethers were also evaluated under the standard conditions. In addition to THF, cyclic ethers including tetrahydropyran and 2, 5-dihydrofuran were also suitable substrates, providing the corresponding products
4v and
4w in 27% and 31% yields. Nevertheless, only a trace amount of product
4x was detected when 1, 4-dioxane was employed in the present reaction system, which might be caused by the weaker nucleophilicity of 1, 4-dioxane. Moreover, when acyclic ethers such as
n-butyl ether and diethyl ether were investigated in this system, none of the desired products were detected.