# Polymeric Carbon Nitride‐Photocatalyzed Aerobic Epoxidation of Alkenes: Application to a Sustainable Synthesis of Rose Oxide

## TL;DR

A new photocatalytic method using polymeric carbon nitride efficiently produces rose oxide, a fragrance compound, through the epoxidation of alkenes under visible light.

## Contribution

A sustainable, visible-light-driven aerobic epoxidation method using polymeric carbon nitride is developed for synthesizing rose oxide and other epoxides.

## Key findings

- The epoxidation of citronellol is selectively catalyzed by polymeric carbon nitride under visible light.
- Isobutyraldehyde acts as a comediator to significantly accelerate the reaction.
- The method enables a three-step sustainable synthesis of rose oxide with good yields.

## Abstract

A urea‐based pristine polymeric carbon nitride catalyzes the aerobic epoxidation of citronellol under visible light irradiation with low‐power blue LEDs. Formation of 6,7‐epoxycitronellol in this reaction is remarkably selective yet relatively slow requiring 72 h of continuous irradiation. The aerobic photocatalyzed epoxidation is readily accelerated with isobutyraldehyde as a comediator, and a general photocatalytic procedure for the epoxidation of terpenoid substrates as well as styrene derivatives is thus developed to give the corresponding epoxides in good yields within attractive reaction times. The carbon nitride‐photocatalyzed aerobic epoxidation is demonstrated in 14 examples, and the epoxidation of citronellol enables a short and sustainable three‐step synthesis of the industrially relevant terpenoid fragrance compound rose oxide.

Heterogenous photocatalyzed alkene epoxidation: A simple urea‐based polymeric carbon nitride catalyzes the aerobic epoxidation of citronellol and a range of other alkenes under visible light irradiation. Mediation by an aliphatic aldehyde can accelerate the reaction, and the photocatalytic method enables an efficient short synthesis of the terpenoid fragrance compound rose oxide.© 2025 WILEY‐VCH GmbH