Photoinduced liberation of a phosphazene superbase as an initiator for oxa-Michael addition reactions

Abstract We describe herein the facile preparation and characterization of new photobase generators based on carboxylate-functionalized chromophores. They pair high wavelength absorption with the liberation of an extremely strong phosphazene superbase. We additionally demonstrate their outstanding capacity in initiating a Brønsted base mediated oxa-Michael addition through a systematic optimization study. To the best of our knowledge, this work marks the first report on the light triggered initiation of an oxa-Michael addition reaction between an alcohol and acrylamide via photobase generators. Graphical abstract