Alcohols as carbon radical precursors

Alcohols play a pivotal role in organic synthesis because they are ubiquitous and can be used in a variety of well-established transformations. However, in C-C bond formation reactions, despite being central to organic synthesis, alcohols are mostly employed in an indirect fashion. Many alcohol-based reactions necessitate tedious pre-transformation of the hydroxy group (C-OH) to other functional groups such as halogens (e.g., C-Br) before C-C bond formation (Figure 1).