According to the strategy outlined in
Scheme 1d, the model substrates 2-(2-(phenylethynyl)benzylidene)malononitrile (
1a) and 2,6-di(
tert-butyl)-4-methylphenol (
2) were chosen to explore the optimal reaction conditions through the variations of photocatalyst, solvent, light source, molar ratio of
1a/
2 and reaction time. To our delight, the reaction underwent smoothly under the irradiation of light emitting diode (LED, 380−385 nm) in air with Ir(ppy)
3 (2 mol%) as a photocatalyst and 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) as a solvent for 12 h, the desired product
3a was obtained in 22% yield (
Table 1, entry 1). As shown in
Table 1, an investigation of photocatalysts (PCs), including Ir(ppy)
3, Mes-Acr
+ClO
4−, 4CzIPN, TPPT (2,4,6-triphenylpyrylium tetrafluoroborate), Ru(bpy)
3(PF
6)
2, Ru(bpy)
3Cl
2, rose bengal, eosin Y, Ir[dF(CF
3)ppy]
2(dtbpy)PF
6, and the selected LED source matching them in their maximum absorption ranges, respectively. For example, blue LEDs used for Ru(bpy)
3(PF
6)
2, Ru(phen)
3Cl
2, TPPT, Mes-Acr-Me
+ClO
4− and Ru(bpy)
3Cl
2; while green LED used for eosin Y and UV LED used for Ir(ppy)
3 [
12], demonstrated that Ru(bpy)
3Cl
2 and blue LED irradiation was the most effective ones (entries 1−10). Meanwhile, blue LED (440−445 nm) was selected for the irradiation source for its highest yield of the desired product among the selected blue LEDs (450−455 nm, 435−440 nm, and 440−445 nm) (entry 7
vs. 11
vs. 12). Thereafter, the different solvents such as acetone, MeCN, hexane, EtOAc and dichloromethane (DCM) were examined, indicating that DCE as a solvent is the best of choice (entries 13−17). Moreover, increasing the molar ratio of
2/1a could improve the yield of cyclization product
3a (entry 18
vs. 12). Further investigation of the reaction time indicated that moderate to good yields of the product
3a were obtained as the reactions were prolonged to 24−48 h, respectively (entries 19−21). In the absence of light irradiation or photocatalyst, no any product was observed (entries 22 and 23). It is worth noting that only trace amount of the desired product
3a was detected observed when the reaction was performed in nitrogen atmosphere, (entry 24). Finally, the optimal reaction conditions are consist of 1.0 equiv. of
1a, 3.0 equivalents of
2, and 5 mol% of Ru(bpy)
3Cl
2 dissolved in DCE and irradiated with a blue LED (450−455 nm) for 48 h.