Phototriggered base proliferation: a powerful 365 nm LED photoclick tool for nucleophile-initiated thiol-Michael addition reaction

Photocaged amines (PCAs) can allow a spatiotemporal control of the highly versatile and widely implemented nucleophile-catalyzed thiol-Michael addition reaction. However, a major challenge with most PCAs is that their relatively low quantum yields easily lead to low photosensitivity, especially under the radiation of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). In this paper, the phototriggered base proliferation (PBP) reaction as a powerful 365 nm LED photoclick tool is presented for the nucleophile-initiated thiol-Michael addition reaction. Compared to the PCA system, the advantages of this approach lie in its enhanced photosensitivity, increased reaction rate and elevated conversion. Finally, due to the persistent interactions of the produced longeval amine, remarkable post conversion was thus initially achieved after irradiation.