The emergence of DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology has provided a considerable advantage to the pharmaceutical industry in the pursuit of discovering novel therapeutic candidates for their drug development initiatives. This combinatorial technique not only offers a more economical, spatially efficient, and time-saving alternative to the existing ligand discovery methods, but also enables the exploration of additional chemical space by utilizing novel DNA-compatible synthetic transformations to leverage multifunctional building blocks from readily available substructures. In this report, a decarboxylative-based hydroalkylation of DNA-conjugated <i>N</i>-vinyl heterocycles enabled by single-electron transfer (SET) and subsequent hydrogen atom transfer through electron-donor/electron-acceptor (EDA) complex activation is detailed. The simplicity and robustness of this method permits inclusion of a broad array of alkyl radical precursors and DNA-tethered nitrogenous heterocyles to generate medicinally relevant substituted heterocycles with pendant functional groups. Moreover, a successful telescoped route provides the opportunity to access a broad range of intricate structural scaffolds by employing basic carboxylic acid feedstocks.

Highly strained 1,3-disubstituted bicyclo[1.1.1]pentanes (BCPs) have been established as bioisosteres of para-disubstituted benzene because they impart valuable pharmacokinetic properties. Herein, we demonstrate an energy transfer-mediated protocol for acylboration of [1.1.1]propellanes that allows the direct construction of various carbonyl species, such as carbamoyl-, carboxyl-, and acyl-, in tandem with synthetically versatile pinacol boronate (Bpin) groups onto the BCP substructure under simple reaction conditions. Moreover, drug-like molecules containing BCP boronates are further submitted to late-stage functionalization events. Several important transformations of the Bpin functional group of BCP boronates, including photoinduced cross-coupling reactions of BCP-BF3K, derived from BCP-Bpin, were successfully performed to showcase the synthetic utility. Additionally, diverse and elaborate mechanistic investigations were performed to provide mechanistic insights, and a plausible reaction mechanism is proposed.