Alkenes serve as versatile building blocks in diverse organic transformations. Despite notable advancements in olefination methods, a general strategy for the direct conversion of carboxylic acids, alcohols and alkanes into alkenes remains a formidable challenge owing to their inherent reactivity disparities. Here we demonstrate an integrated photochemical strategy that facilitates a one-pot conversion of these fundamental building blocks into alkenes through a sequential C(sp³)–C(sp³) bond formation–fragmentation process, utilizing an easily accessible and recyclable phenyl vinyl ketone as the ‘olefination reagent’. This practical method not only offers an unparalleled paradigm for accessing value-added alkenes from abundant and inexpensive starting materials but also showcases its versatility through various complex scenarios, including late-stage on-demand olefination of multifunctional molecules, chain homologation of acids and concise syntheses of bioactive molecules. Moreover, initiating from carboxylic acids, alcohols and alkanes, this protocol presents a complementary approach to traditional olefination methods, making it a highly valuable addition to the research toolkit for alkene synthesis.

烯烃是各种有机转化的多功能构建块。尽管烯化方法取得了显着进步，但由于羧酸、醇和烷烃固有的反应性差异，将羧酸、醇和烷烃直接转化为烯烃的一般策略仍然是一项艰巨的挑战。在这里，我们展示了一种集成的光化学策略，该策略利用易于获得且可回收的苯基乙烯基酮作为“烯化试剂”，通过连续的 C（sp³）–C（sp³） 键形成-碎裂过程，促进将这些基本构建单元一次性转化为烯烃。这种实用的方法不仅为从丰富且廉价的起始材料中获得增值烯烃提供了无与伦比的范例，而且还通过各种复杂场景展示了其多功能性，包括多功能分子的后期按需烯化、酸的链同系和生物活性分子的简洁合成。此外，该方案从羧酸、醇类和烷烃开始，为传统烯化方法提供了一种补充方法，使其成为烯烃合成研究工具包中非常有价值的补充。