Our goal was to develop a reaction using inexpensive, commercially available donors in conjunction with readily synthesised phthalimide RAEs, avoiding the complex donors/acceptors employed in previous EDA methodologies. This approach led to our standard conditions: DABCO (50 mol%), RAE (1, 1 equiv.), phthalonitrile (3 equiv.), and blue LED irradiation (λmax = 447 nm) in DMSO for 16 h at 25 °C under N2. At a 0.15 mmol scale, the desired product (2) was isolated in 84% yield (Entry 1, Table ).