Sunlight-induced C-C bond formation reaction: radical addition of alcohols/ethers/acetals to olefins

Abstract A sunlight-induced C-C bond formation reactions upon the addition of alcohols/ethers/acetals to olefins proceeded efficiently using di-tert-butyl peroxide (DTBP). The reactions proceeded faster than many of the previously reported sunlight and many conventional lamp photolyses, typically in 3–4 h under irradiation with sunlight, in excellent yield using olefins bearing two electron withdrawing groups (EWGs) (product yield > 95%) and in good to fair yield with olefins bearing one EWG. The yields observed for some products were ∼20% higher than those obtained using a conventional Xe lamp as the light source, which was confirmed to be due to a light intensity effect. Gram-scale experiments showed similar yields to those observed in their corresponding small-scale experiments.