Unraveling the Mechanism of the Singlet Oxygen Ene Reaction: Recent Computational and Experimental Approaches

The mechanism of the singlet oxygen ene reaction has been a subject of renewed interest within the last few years. The main question being whether this reaction proceeds through a concerted mechanism or if it involves discrete intermediates. In general, the majority of experimental and computational studies support a traditional stepwise mechanism involving a perepoxide-like intermediate. In this minireview we highlight the most prominent and recent theoretical, as well as experimental results relating to the challenging mechanism of the singlet oxygen ene oxyfunctionalization.