Development of organic photoreactions utilizing the characteristics of elements with low electronegativity

Organic photoreactions have received much attention as unique tools to access kinetically and/or thermodynamically prohibited products in the ground state. These photoreactions have been based mainly on using elements with high electronegativity such as carbon (C), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), halogens (F, Cl, Br, and I) as well as transition metals. On the other hand, we have been interested in the characteristics of elements with low electronegativity, such as boron (B), silicon (Si), and tin (Sn), in the excited state, enabling highly reactive and/or selective photoinduced borylations, silylations, and stannylations. In this account, we highlight our latest findings concerning diverse organic photoreactions utilizing B, Si, and Sn elements, which are challenging when using conventional strategies.