Characterizing chain processes in visible light photoredox catalysis

The recognition that Ru(bpy)₃²⁺ and similar visible light absorbing transition metal complexes can be photocatalysts for a variety of synthetically useful organic reactions has resulted in a recent resurgence of interest in photoredox catalysis. However, many of the critical mechanistic aspects of this class of reactions remain poorly understood. In particular, the degree to which visible light photoredox reactions involve radical chain processes has been a point of some disagreement that has not been subjected to systematic analysis. We have now performed quantum yield measurements to demonstrate that three representative, mechanistically distinct photoredox processes involve product-forming chain reactions. Moreover, we show that the combination of quantum yield and luminescence quenching experiments provides a rapid method to estimate the length of these chains. Together, these measurements constitute a robust, operationally facile strategy for characterizing chain processes in a wide range of visible light photoredox reactions.     

Recent Advances in C-F Bond Cleavage Enabled by Visible Light Photoredox Catalysis

The creation of new bonds via C-F bond cleavage of readily available per- or oligofluorinated compounds has received growing interest. Using such a strategy, a myriad of valuable partially fluorinated products can be prepared, which otherwise are difficult to make by the conventional C-F bond formation methods. Visible light photoredox catalysis has been proven as an important and powerful tool for defluorinative reactions due to its mild, easy to handle, and environmentally benign characteristics. Compared to the classical C-F activation that proceeds via two-electron processes, radicals are the key intermediates using visible light photoredox catalysis, providing new modes for the cleavage of C-F bonds. In this review, a summary of the visible light-promoted C-F bond cleavage since 2018 was presented. The contents were classified by the fluorosubstrates, including polyfluorinated arenes, gem-difluoroalkenes, trifluoromethyl arenes, and trifluoromethyl alkenes. An emphasis is placed on the discussion of the mechanisms and limitations of these reactions. Finally, my personal perspective on the future development of this rapidly emerging field was provided.     

The cycloaddition reaction using visible light photoredox catalysis

In recent years, visible light photoredox catalysis has emerged as an important research area in synthesis. In this review, we describe the recent progress in the visible light induced cycloaddition reactions, including [2+2], [3+2], [4+2] and [2+2+2] cycloadditions, for the construction of four-, five- or six-membered cycles and polycycles. Furthermore, the mechanisms for these transformations are also discussed, in which the formation of the radicals is initiated by a visible light photoredox catalysis process.     

Photocatalytic Modification of Amino Acids,Peptides, and Proteins

In the last decade, visible-light photoredox catalysis has emerged as a powerful strategy to enable novel transformations in organic synthesis. Owing to mild reaction conditions (i.e., room temperature, use of visible light) and high functional-group tolerance, photoredox catalysis could represent an ideal strategy for chemoselective biomolecule modification. Indeed, a recent trend in photoredox catalysis is its application to the development of novel methodologies for amino acid modification. Herein, an up-to-date overview of photocatalytic methodologies for the modification of single amino acids, peptides, and proteins is provided. The advantages offered by photoredox catalysis and its suitability in the development of novel biocompatible methodologies are described. In addition, a brief consideration of the current limitations of photocatalytic approaches, as well as future challenges to be addressed, are discussed.     

A review of enantioselective dual transition metal/photoredox catalysis

Transition metal catalysis is one of the most important tools to construct carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds in modern organic synthesis. Visible-light photoredox catalysis has recently drawn considerable attention of the scientific community owing to its unique activation modes and significance for the green synthesis. The merger of photoredox catalysis with transition metal catalysts, termed metallaphotoredox catalysis, has become a popular strategy for expanding the synthetic utility of visiblelight photocatalysis. This strategy has led to the discovery of novel asymmetric transformations, which are unfeasible or not easily accessible by a single catalytic system. This contemporary area of organic chemistry holds promise for the development of economical and environmentally friendly methods for the asymmetric synthesis of chiral compounds. In this review, the advances in the enantioselective metallaphotoredox catalysis(EMPC) are summarized.     

Catalytic Enantioselective Radical Transformations Enabled by Visible Light

Visible light has been recognized as an economical and environmentally benign source of energy that enables chemoselective molecular activation of chemical reactions and hence reveal a new horizon for the design and discovery of novel chemical transformations. On the other hand, asymmetric catalysis represents an economic method to satisfy the increasing need for enantioenriched compounds in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Therefore, combining visible light photocatalysis with asymmetric catalysis creates a wider range of opportunities for the development of mechanistically unique reaction schemes. However, there arise two main problems like undesirable photochemical background reactions and difficulties in controlling the stereochemistry with highly reactive photochemical intermediates which can pose a serious challenge to the development of asymmetric visible light photocatalysis. In recent years, several methods have been developed to overcome these challenges. This review summarizes the recent advances in visible light‐induced enantioselective reactions. We divide our discussion into four categories: Asymmetric photoredox organocatalysis, asymmetric transition metal photoredox catalysis, asymmetric photoredox Lewis acid catalysis and asymmetric photoinduced energy transfer catalysis. Special emphasis has been given to different catalytic activation modes that enable the construction of challenging carbon‐carbon and carbon‐heteroatom bond in an enantioselective fashion. A brief analysis of substrate scope and limitation as well as reaction mechanism of these reactions has been included.     

Visible‐Light‐Promoted Trifluoromethylthiolation of Styrenes by Dual Photoredox/Halide Catalysis

Herein, we report a new visible‐light‐promoted strategy to access radical trifluoromethylthiolation reactions by combining halide and photoredox catalysis. This approach allows for the synthesis of vinyl–SCF₃ compounds of relevance in pharmaceutical chemistry directly from alkenes under mild conditions with irradiation from household light sources. Furthermore, alkyl–SCF₃‐containing cyclic ketone and oxindole derivatives can be accessed by radical‐polar crossover semi‐pinacol and cyclization processes. Inexpensive halide salts play a crucial role in activating the trifluoromethylthiolating reagent towards photoredox catalysis and aid the formation of the SCF₃ radical.     

The behavior of amides of N-acylamino acids toward aniline and substituted anilines under papain catalysis

Resolution of z-dl-alanine amide has been achieved through papain-catalyzed reactions with aniline, the three anisidines, the three aminophenols and the three fluoroanilines. Most of the resultant anilides displayed better than a 95% resolution of the racemic amide. The four methyl esters of hippuric acid, z-glycine, z-l-alanine and z-dl-alanine were prepared by means of a recently reported catalytic dehydrator in the presence of excess dry methanol. Subsequent treatment with ammonia produced the amides. Three N-acylaminomalonic amides were synthesized by a different route than previously used, from ethyl aminomalonate hydrochloride. Trial asymmetric syntheses were unsuccessful for papain catalysis of such achiral amides with aniline. A few organic solutes were tested for their effects on the activity of papain during anilide synthesis. The pH dependence of yield was studied for papain catalysis of reactions between aniline and hippuric amide and then aniline and z-glycine amide.     

Deaminative (Carbonylative) Alkyl‐Heck‐type Reactions Enabled by Photocatalytic C−N Bond Activation

The palladium‐catalyzed Heck reaction is a well‐known, Nobel Prize winning transformation for producing alkenes. Unlike the alkenyl and aryl variants of the Heck reaction, the alkyl‐Heck reaction is still underdeveloped owing to the competitive side reactions of alkyl–palladium species. Herein, we describe the development of a deaminative alkyl‐Heck‐type reaction that proceeds through C?N bond activation by visible‐light photoredox catalysis. A variety of aliphatic primary amines were found to be efficient starting materials for this new process, affording the corresponding alkene products in good yields under mild reaction conditions. Moreover, this strategy was successfully applied to deaminative carbonylative alkyl‐Heck‐type reactions.     

Alkyne Difunctionalization by Dual Gold/Photoredox Catalysis

Highly selective tandem nucleophilic addition/cross‐coupling reactions of alkynes have been developed using visible‐light‐promoted dual gold/photoredox catalysis. The simultaneous oxidation of Au^I and coordination of the coupling partner by photo‐generated aryl radicals, and the use of catalytically inactive gold precatalysts allows for high levels of selectivity for the cross‐coupled products without competing hydrofunctionalization or homocoupling. As demonstrated in representative arylative Meyer–Schuster and hydration reactions, this work expands the scope of dual gold/photoredox catalysis to the largest class of substrates for gold catalysts and benefits from the mild and environmentally attractive nature of visible‐light activation.     

可见光促进的光氧化还原催化的三氟甲基化反应

全氟烷基化反应,特别是三氟甲基化反应一直是有机化学领域的研究热点。近几年来,可见光促进的光氧化还原催化的有机化学反应,因其本身所固有的条件温和、绿色和环保等优点而倍受合成化学家的青睐。该方法学也被成功地应用于一系列三氟甲基化反应。本文主要按照三氟甲基源分类,总结了近年来可见光促进的光氧化还原催化的三氟甲基化反应的研究进展,并对其发展趋势进行了展望。     

结合可见光促进氧化还原和镍催化的碳碳键合成进展

结合可见光促进氧化还原和镍催化的碳碳键合成研究,是对过渡金属催化的交叉偶联反应的重要补充,具有广阔的发展空间和应用前景,是近年来有机光化学合成的前沿热点领域之一。本文依据反应设计的模式划分,小结目前该领域的研究进展。     

C–H allylation of N-aryl-tetrahydroisoquinolines by merging photoredox catalysis with iodide catalysis

A dual catalytic system, combing visible light photoredox catalysis and iodide catalysis, has been developed for the functionalization of inert C–H bonds. By doing so, radical allylation reactions of N-aryl-tetrahydroisoquinolines(THIQs) were realized under extremely mild conditions, affording a wide variety of allyl-substituted THIQs in up to 78% yields.     

Synthesis of N‐Containing Heterocyclic Compounds Using Visible‐light Photoredox Catalysis

Nitrogen heterocycles represent a highly important class of compounds which are widely used in materials science, agrochemistry, and medicinal chemistry. Therefore, there is continuing interest in the development of convenient, efficient, and environmentally benign synthetic methods for the construction of nitrogen containing heterocycles. Due to its natural abundance, ease of use, and promising application in industry, the use of visible light as a driving force for chemical reactions has received considerable attention in the past few years. This account summarizes the synthesis of N‐heterocycles using visible‐light photoredox catalysis published in the last two years, according to the size and type of the formed N‐heterocyclic rings. In the context of seminal works of others in this area, a concise summary of the contributions of the authors is also offered.     

Photoredox catalysis on unactivated substrates with strongly reducing iridium photosensitizers

Photoredox catalysis has emerged as a powerful strategy in synthetic organic chemistry, but substrates that are difficult to reduce either require complex reaction conditions or are not amenable at all to photoredox transformations. In this work, we show that strong bis-cyclometalated iridium photoreductants with electron-rich β-diketiminate (NacNac) ancillary ligands enable high-yielding photoredox transformations of challenging substrates with very simple reaction conditions that require only a single sacrificial reagent. Using blue or green visible-light activation we demonstrate a variety of reactions, which include hydrodehalogenation, cyclization, intramolecular radical addition, and prenylation via radical-mediated pathways, with optimized conditions that only require the photocatalyst and a sacrificial reductant/hydrogen atom donor. Many of these reactions involve organobromide and organochloride substrates which in the past have had limited utility in photoredox catalysis. This work paves the way for the continued expansion of the substrate scope in photoredox catalysis.

Strong bis-cyclometalated iridium photoreductants, in combination with a single sacrificial reductant, enable visible-light-promoted reductive activation of a variety of challenging substrates under simple and general reaction conditions.     

One‐Pot Tandem Photoredox and Cross‐Coupling Catalysis with a Single Palladium Carbodicarbene Complex

The combination of conventional transition‐metal‐catalyzed coupling (2 e^? process) and photoredox catalysis (1 e^? process) has emerged as a powerful approach to catalyze difficult cross‐coupling reactions under mild reaction conditions. Reported is a palladium carbodicarbene (CDC) complex that mediates both a Suzuki–Miyaura coupling and photoredox catalysis for C?N bond formation upon visible‐light irradiation. These two catalytic pathways can be combined to promote both conventional transition‐metal‐catalyzed coupling and photoredox catalysis to mediate C?H arylation under ambient conditions with a single catalyst in an efficient one‐pot process.     

Amide Synthesis by Nickel/Photoredox-Catalyzed Direct Carbamoylation of (Hetero)Aryl Bromides

Herein, we report a one-electron strategy for catalytic amide synthesis that enables the direct carbamoylation of (hetero)aryl bromides. This radical cross-coupling approach, which is based on the combination of nickel and photoredox catalysis, proceeds at ambient temperature and uses readily available dihydropyridines as precursors of carbamoyl radicals. The method's mild reaction conditions make it tolerant of sensitive-functional-group-containing substrates and allow the installation of an amide scaffold within biologically relevant heterocycles. In addition, we installed amide functionalities bearing electron-poor and sterically hindered amine moieties, which would be difficult to prepare with classical dehydrative condensation methods.     

The coupling of alkylboronic acids and esters with Baylis–Hillman derivatives by Lewis base/photoredox dual catalysis

Utilizing Lewis base/photoredox dual catalysis, carbon radicals generated from either alkylboronic acids or esters were coupled with Baylis–Hillman derivatives under visible light irradiation. This protocol provides a mild and operationally simple method for the synthesis of a variety of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds in a broad scope of the substrates. The mechanism of Lewis base activation and reductive quenching cycle was probably involved.     

Material‐Efficient Microfluidic Platform for Exploratory Studies of Visible‐Light Photoredox Catalysis

We present an automated microfluidic platform for in‐flow studies of visible‐light photoredox catalysis in liquid or gas–liquid reactions at the 15 μL scale. An oscillatory flow strategy enables a flexible residence time while preserving the mixing and heat transfer advantages of flow systems. The adjustable photon flux made possible with the platform is characterized using actinometry. Case studies of oxidative hydroxylation of phenylboronic acids and dimerization of thiophenol demonstrate the capabilities and advantages of the system. Reaction conditions identified through droplet screening translate directly to continuous synthesis with minor platform modifications.     

Photoredox/palladium-cocatalyzed enantioselective alkylation of secondary benzyl carbonates with 4-alkyl-1,4-dihydropyridines

A photoredox/palladium-cocatalyzed enantioselective alkylation of racemic secondary carbonates with 4-alkyl-1,4-dihydropyridines under visible light irradiation has been developed. The present study provides a method for the preparation of optically active diarylalkanes from racemic diarylmethyl carbonates by a dynamic kinetic asymmetric transformation(DYKAT).This photoredox/palladium dual catalysis strategy expands the scope of the asymmetric Pd-catalyzed benzylic substitution reaction and serves as its potential alternative and complement.