Switchable Divergent Synthesis Using Photocatalysis

A highly selective and divergent synthesis enables access to various molecules and has garnered broad interest from not only organic chemists but also medicinal chemists and biologists who work with chemical libraries. Since the 20th century, such divergent transformations have been achieved using transition-metal-catalyzed reactions, in which the choice of catalyst or ligand crucially affects the selectivity. Over the past several decades, photocatalysts have attracted a considerable amount of attention because they provide additional ways to control the reaction intermediates and product selectivity via electron or energy transfer. From this perspective, we highlight the recent development of switchable and divergent syntheses using photocatalysts, which are difficult to achieve using classical catalytic transformations.

Automated summary

The development of photocatalysts has provided a new approach to control reaction intermediates and product selectivity, attracting considerable attention in the fields of organic and medicinal chemistry in recent years.