Combining Photoredox and Metal Catalysis

Photocatalytic Transformation of Biomass and Biomass Derived Compounds-Application to Organic Synthesis

Biomass and biomass-derived compounds have become an important alternative feedstock for chemical industry. They may replace fossil feedstocks such as mineral oil and related platform chemicals. These compounds may also be transformed conveniently into new innovative products for the medicinal or the agrochemical domain. The production of cosmetics or surfactants as well as materials for different applications are examples for other domains where new platform chemicals obtained from biomass can be used. Photochemical and especially photocatalytic reactions have recently been recognized as being important tools of organic chemistry as they make compounds or compound families available that cannot be or are difficultly synthesized with conventional methods of organic synthesis. The present review gives a short overview with selected examples on photocatalytic reactions of biopolymers, carbohydrates, fatty acids and some biomass-derived platform chemicals such as furans or levoglucosenone. In this article, the focus is on application to organic synthesis.

Photochemical radical cyclization reactions with imines, hydrazones, oximes and related compounds

Photochemical reactions are a key method to generate radical intermediates. Often under these conditions no toxic reagents are necessary. During recent years, photo-redox catalytic reactions considerably push this research domain. These reaction conditions are particularly mild and safe which enables the transformation of poly-functional substrates into complex products. The synthesis of heterocyclic compounds is particularly important since they play an important role in the research of biologically active products. In this review, photochemical radical cyclization reactions of imines and related compounds such as oximes, hydrazones and chloroimines are presented. Reaction mechanisms are discussed and the structural diversity and complexity of the products are presented. Radical intermediates are mainly generated in two ways: (1) electronic excitation is achieved by light absorption of the substrates. (2) The application of photoredox catalysis is now systematically studied for these reactions. Recently, also excitation of charge transfer complexes has been studied in this context from many perspectives.

Dual copper- and photoredox-catalysed C(sp2)–C(sp3) coupling

The use of copper catalysis with visible light photoredox catalysis in a cooperative fashion has recently emerged as a versatile means of developing new C–C bond forming reactions. In this work, dual copper and photoredox catalysis is exploited to effect C(sp²)–C(sp³) cross-couplings between aryl boronic acids and benzyl bromides.

Combining Photo-Organo Redox- and Enzyme Catalysis Facilitates Asymmetric C-H Bond Functionalization

In this study, we combined photo‐organo redox catalysis and biocatalysis to achieve asymmetric C–H bond functionalization of simple alkane starting materials. The photo‐organo catalyst anthraquinone sulfate (SAS) was employed to oxyfunctionalise alkanes to aldehydes and ketones. We coupled this light‐driven reaction with asymmetric enzymatic functionalisations to yield chiral hydroxynitriles, amines, acyloins and α‐chiral ketones with up to 99 % ee. In addition, we demonstrate functional group interconversion to alcohols, esters and carboxylic acids. The transformations can be performed as concurrent tandem reactions. We identified the degradation of substrates and inhibition of the biocatalysts as limiting factors affecting compatibility, due to reactive oxygen species generated in the photocatalytic step. These incompatibilities were addressed by reaction engineering, such as applying a two‐phase system or temporal and spatial separation of the catalysts. Using a selection of eleven starting alkanes, one photo‐organo catalyst and 8 diverse biocatalysts, we synthesized 26 products and report for the model compounds benzoin and mandelonitrile > 97 % ee at gram scale.

TiO2 Photocatalyzed C–H Bond Transformation for C–C Coupling Reactions

Fulfilling the direct inert C–H bond functionalization of raw materials that are earth-abundant and commercially available for the synthesis of diverse targeted organic compounds is very desirable and its implementation would mean a great reduction of the synthetic steps required for substrate prefunctionalization such as halogenation, borylation, and metalation. Successful C–H bond functionalization mainly resorts to homogeneous transition-metal catalysis, albeit sometimes suffering from poor catalyst reusability, nontrivial separation, and severe biotoxicity. TiO2 photocatalysis displays multifaceted advantages, such as strong oxidizing ability, high chemical stability and photostability, excellent reusability, and low biotoxicity. The chemical reactions started and delivered by TiO2 photocatalysts are well known to be widely used in photocatalytic water-splitting, organic pollutant degradation, and dye-sensitized solar cells. Recently, TiO2 photocatalysis has been demonstrated to possess the unanticipated ability to trigger the transformation of inert C–H bonds for C–C, C–N, C–O, and C–X bond formation under ultraviolet light, sunlight, and even visible-light irradiation at room temperature. A few important organic products, traditionally synthesized in harsh reaction conditions and with specially functionalized group substrates, are continuously reported to be realized by TiO2 photocatalysis with simple starting materials under very mild conditions. This prominent advantage—the capability of utilizing cheap and readily available compounds for highly selective synthesis without prefunctionalized reactants such as organic halides, boronates, silanes, etc.—is attributed to the overwhelmingly powerful photo-induced hole reactivity of TiO2 photocatalysis, which does not require an elevated reaction temperature as in conventional transition-metal catalysis. Such a reaction mechanism, under typically mild conditions, is apparently different from traditional transition-metal catalysis and beyond our insights into the driving forces that transform the C–H bond for C–C bond coupling reactions. This review gives a summary of the recent progress of TiO2 photocatalytic C–H bond activation for C–C coupling reactions and discusses some model examples, especially under visible-light irradiation.

Photocatalysis in organic and polymer synthesis

This review, with over 600 references, summarizes the recent applications of photoredox catalysis for organic transformation and polymer synthesis. Photoredox catalysts are metallo- or organo-compounds capable of absorbing visible light, resulting in an excited state species. This excited state species can donate or accept an electron from other substrates to mediate redox reactions at ambient temperature with high atom efficiency. These catalysts have been successfully implemented for the discovery of novel organic reactions and synthesis of added-value chemicals with an excellent control of selectivity and stereo-regularity. More recently, such catalysts have been implemented by polymer chemists to post-modify polymers in high yields, as well as to effectively catalyze reversible deactivation radical polymerizations and living polymerizations. These catalysts create new approaches for advanced organic transformation and polymer synthesis. The objective of this review is to give an overview of this emerging field to organic and polymer chemists as well as materials scientists.

C-H functionalization of amines with aryl halides by nickel-photoredox catalysis

We describe the functionalization of α-amino C-H bonds with aryl halides using a combination of nickel and photoredox catalysis. This direct C-H, C-X coupling uses inexpensive and readily available starting materials to generate benzylic amines, an important class of bioactive molecules. Mechanistically, this method features the direct arylation of α-amino radicals mediated by a nickel catalyst. This reactivity is demonstrated for a range of aryl halides and N-aryl amines, with orthogonal scope to existing C-H activation and photoredox methodologies. We also report reactions with several complex aryl halides, demonstrating the potential utility of this approach in late-stage functionalization.

Decarboxylative Aminomethylation of Aryl- and Vinylsulfonates through Combined Nickel- and Photoredox-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling

A mild approach for the decarboxylative aminomethylation of aryl sulfonates by the combination of photoredox and nickel catalysis through C-O bond cleavage is described for the first time. A wide range of aryl triflates as well as aryl mesylates, tosylates and alkenyl triflates afford the corresponding products in good to excellent yields.

Recent advances in catalytic decarboxylative acylation reactions via a radical process

This review highlights the recent advances in radical decarboxylative cross-coupling reactions of α-keto acids which provide powerful tools for C–C and C–X bond formations.

Recent synthetic additions to the visible light photoredox catalysis toolbox

The boom in visible light photoredox catalysis (VLPC) research has demonstrated that this novel synthetic approach is here to stay. VLPC enables reactive radical intermediates to be catalytically generated at ambient temperature, a feat not generally allowed through traditional pyrolysis- or radical initiator-based methodologies. VLPC has vastly extended the range of substrates and reaction schemes that have been traditionally the domain of radical reactions. In this review the photophysics background of VLPC will be briefly discussed, followed by a report on recent inroads of VLPC into decarboxylative couplings and radical C-H functionalization of aromatic compounds. The bulk of the review will be dedicated to advances in synergistic catalysis involving VLPC, namely the combination of photoredox catalysis with organocatalysis, including β-functionalization of carbonyl groups, functionalization of weak aliphatic C-H bonds, and anti-Markovnikov hydrofunctionalization of alkenes; dual catalysis with gold or with nickel, photoredox catalysis as an oxidation promoter in transition metal catalysis, and acid-catalyzed enantioselective radical addition to π systems.