A simple and efficient radical coupling of 2-isocyanobiphenyl with ethers was developed, providing a variety of 6-alkylated phenanthridines. Both cyclic and acyclic ethers are suitable substrates for this transformation, which comprised the functional- ization of two C-H bonds： the sp3 C-H of ether and sp2 C-H of phenyl group. The kinetic isotope effect （KIE） revealed that the cleavage of sp3 C-H bond would be involved in the rate-determining step.
