Opportunities and challenges in photochemical activation of π-bond system using common transition-metal-catalyzes as a seminal photosensitizer

Abstract

The volatility of noble metals prices, globally increasing demands, and its limited resources drive chemists to find alternatives in the place of expensive transition metal catalysts. So, this is a time for the scientific community to find alternative sources to replace Nobel metals, and it is making genuine changes in developing sustainable synthetic methods. Photoexcited transition-metal catalysis is revitalizing the research area for functionalizing diverse π-bond systems. The massive progression of the two conventional photochemical reactivity modes, photoredox catalysis, and synergetic photocatalyst/transition-metal catalysis, has fueled the search for a next-level mechanistic paradigm visible-light initiated excited-state transition-metal catalysis (Cu, Pd, Fe, Au, Co, Ni, W, and Mn), which can be deployed to harvest light energy and convert it into chemical energy in a single catalytic cycle. This review summarizes early examples of the visible-light-induced photocatalytic activities of conventional transition metals employed in C-H activation, π-bond functionalization, and annulation reactions of unsaturated compounds, and excluding the commonly used expensive photocatalysts (i.e., Ir-, and Ru-based pyridyl complexes). Unlike the other two classical photochemical approaches, the discrete inner-sphere mechanism associated with photoexcited transition metals facilitates reactive substrate-metal-complex interactions. It enables the direct involvement of excited-state catalysts in bond-forming or-breaking processes.