Light opens a new window for N-heterocyclic carbene catalysis |
| |
Authors: | Jing Liu Xiao-Ning Xing Jin-Hai Huang Liang-Qiu Lu Wen-Jing Xiao |
| |
Institution: | Key Laboratory of Pesticide & Chemical Biology, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Central China Normal University, 152 Luoyu Road, Wuhan Hubei 430079 China.; Anyang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 833 Wenming Road, Anyang Henan China |
| |
Abstract: | N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are efficient Lewis basic catalysts for the umpolung of various polarized unsaturated compounds usually including aldehydes, imines, acyl chlorides and activated esters. NHC catalysis involving electron pair transfer steps has been extensively studied; however, NHC catalysis through single-electron transfer (SET) processes, despite having the potential to achieve chemical transformations of inert chemical bonds and using green reagents, has long been a challenging task in organic synthesis. In parallel, visible-light-induced photocatalysis and photoexcitation have been established as powerful tools to facilitate sustainable organic synthesis, as they enable the generation of various reactive radical intermediates under extremely mild conditions. Recently, a number of elegant visible-light-induced, NHC-catalyzed transformations were developed for accessing valuable organic compounds. As a result, this minireview will highlight the recent advances in this field.This minireview summarized the recent advances on the photoinduced, NHC-catalyzed organic reactions according to the function of visible light. |
| |
Keywords: | |
|
|