Solar Synthesis: Prospects in Visible Light Photocatalysis

Abstract

Background Interest in photochemical synthesis has been motivated in part by the realization that sunlight is effectively an inexhaustible energy source.Chemists have also long recognized distinctive patterns of reactivity that are uniquely accessible via photochemical activation. However, most simple organic molecules absorb only ultraviolet (UV) light and cannot be activated by the visible wavelengths that comprise most of the solar energy that reaches Earth’s surface. Consequently, organic photochemistry has generally required the use of UV light sources. Advances Over the past several years, there has been a resurgence of interest in synthetic photochemistry, based on the recognition that the transition metal chromophores that have been so productively exploited in the design of techno