Discovery of a Thioxanthone–TfOH Complex as a Photoredox Catalyst for Hydrogenation of Alkenes Using
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‐Xylene as both Electron and Hydrogen Sources
novel organic photoredox catalyst was discovered by simply adding a catalytic amount of TfOH as a co-catalyst to readily available thioxanthone. The new catalyst, 9-HTXTF, shows a sufficiently long singlet lifetime and adequately strong oxidation potential, as well as relatively facile photoexcitation, with applications in the hydrogenation and deuteration of carbonylated alkenes.