New Photochemical Methods for Catalytic Radical Processes

Photochemical transformations rely on the ability of organic molecules or catalysts to absorb light and reach electronically excited states. This electronic transition results that the chemical and physical properties of excited-state molecules significantly differ from the ground state. This difference promotes that photochemistry has been as a powerful tool to generate radicals and realize the inaccessible transformations under thermal conditions in organic synthesis. The main objective of this doctoral studies was to exploit different photochemical activation strategies to develop catalytic radical processes.

Chapters II detailed that catalytic donors (dithiocarbamates and xanthogenates) were used to form photoactive electron donor-acceptor (EDA) complexes with a variety of radical precursors, generating radicals and promoting catalytic radical transformations.

In chapter III, it was shown that catalytic acceptors based on tetrachlorophthalimides can be used for EDA complex photoactivation, granting accesses to radical formation and distinct radical-based reactions.

Chapter IV showed how the combination of photoredox catalysis and hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) catalysis enabled the cross-coupling of two olefins.

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