Radical Photochemical Reactions

Radical photochemical reactions harness light to generate highly reactive, unpaired-electron intermediates that can forge or break chemical bonds under conditions far milder than classical thermal methods. Much of the current work centers on photoredox catalysis, where transition metal complexes—or purely organic dyes—absorb visible light and shuttle single electrons to and from substrate molecules, enabling transformations such as C–H functionalization and selective arylation that would otherwise require harsh reagents or multistep sequences. Merging these photocatalytic cycles with electrochemical methods has opened a way to fine-tune redox potentials in real time, expanding the range of molecules that can be activated. Active questions include how to achieve predictable selectivity when multiple radical intermediates compete, and how to scale photochemical reactions beyond laboratory glassware without sacrificing the uniform light exposure that drives efficient catalysis.

Works

57,793

Total citations

1,041,927

Keywords

Visible Light Photoredox CatalysisOrganic SynthesisElectrochemical MethodsTransition Metal ComplexesRadical ReactionsC–H Functionalization