Visible-Light-Driven Copper Catalysis: A Green and Sustainable Approach to Chlorohydroxylation of Chalcones

This work reports a green and sustainable method of chlorohydroxylation of chalcone derivatives via visible-light-induced copper catalysis under room temperature conditions to chemoselectively convert chalcones into the corresponding chlorohydrins. This approach enables the efficient conversion of various chalcone derivatives with electron-withdrawing and electron-donating groups. Preliminary mechanistic studies indicated that chlorine radical (Cl·) generated through the ligand-to-metal charge transfer process can promote the efficient construction of chlorohydrin structures.