Modular synthesis of carbazole substituted phthalimides as potential photocatalysts

Herein, we report the modular synthesis of carbazole functionalized phthalimides (PI), and demonstrated their applicability as catalyst in selected photocatalytic transformations. The developed synthetic approach provides high variability of phthalimide considering that the synthesis of the phthalimide core can be easily performed. Starting from fluorophthalic acid anhydrides, the corresponding fluorophthalimides were prepared with various amines, and the fluoro function ensured the introduction of carbazoles into the phthalimide framework through aromatic nucleophilic substitution. Besides the synthetic developments, we tested some of the carbazolyl phthalimides in four different photocatalytic transformations, and found attractive and comparable activity to the known 4-CzIPN and noble metal complexes.