A C–N bond-forming cross-dehydrogenative coupling
of a collection
of Tyr-containing peptides and estrogens with heteroarenes is described.
This oxidative coupling is distinguished by its scalability, operational
simplicity, and air tolerance and enables the appendance of phenothiazines
and phenoxazines in phenol-like compounds. When incorporated into
a Tb(III) metallopeptide, the Tyr-phenothiazine moiety acts as a sensitizer
for the Tb(III) ion, providing a new tool for the design of luminescent
probes.