A visible-light promoted amine oxidation catalyzed by a Cp*Ir complex

Through a rapid screening of Cp*Ir complexes based on a turn-on type fluorescence readout, a [Cp*Ir(dipyrido[3,2-a:2',3'-c]phenazine)Cl] + complex was found to catalyze the blue-light promoted dehydrogenation of N -heterocycles under physiological conditions. In the dehydrogenation of tetrahydroisoquinolines, the catalyst preferentially yielded the monodehydrogenated product, accompanying H 2 O 2 generation. We surmise that this mechanism may be reminiscent of flavin-dependent oxidases.