The invention discloses a method for photocatalytic synthesis of polydeuterium substituted amine, and relates to the technical field of
chemical synthesis. The method comprises the step of reacting a carbonyl compound with an amine compound in the presence of a
deuterium-containing
reagent, a mercaptan catalyst and a
reducing agent under the conditions of a photocatalyst and illumination to obtain the polydeuterium substituted amine. According to the method disclosed by the invention, multiple introduction of
deuterium atoms at alpha-carbon sites of a target amine product is realized through a series free radical mechanism initiated by
photon-generated carriers, so that simple and easily available raw materials are directly converted into the polydeuterium substituted amine. According to the invention, the ubiquitous problems that only one
deuterium atom can be introduced to a
nitrogen alpha-site, the synthesis
route is tedious, the operation steps are complicated and the existing deuterated
amine synthesis technology depends on an expensive deuterium source or a
metal catalyst are solved; the invention provides a novel polydeuterium substituted
amine synthesis strategy which has the advantages of simple steps, mild conditions, high
atom economy and easiness in large-scale production.