Radical-mediated C-C cleavage of unstrained cycloketones and DFT study for unusual regioselectivity

C-C bond scission of unstrained cycloketones with high regioselectivity is a challenging synthetic task. Here, the authors show a facile C-C cleavage of cyclohexanones and cyclopentanones with unusual selectivity under mild conditions with the aid of an in situ formed side-chain aryl radical.