Abstract
During the past 15 years, an increasing number of research groups have embraced visible-light-mediated synthetic transformations as a powerful strategy for the construction and functionalization of organic molecules. This trend has followed the advent and development of photocatalysis, which often operates under mild visible-light irradiation. Nowadays, the general perception of UV-light photochemistry is often as an out-of-fashion approach that is difficult to perform and leads to unselective reaction pathways. Here we wish to propose an alternative and more realistic point of view to the scientific community. First, we will provide an overview of the use of UV light in modern photochemistry, highlighting the pivotal role it still plays in the development of new, efficient synthetic methods. We will then show how the high levels of mechanistic understanding reached for UV-light-driven processes have been key in the implementation of the related visible-light-driven transformations.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by MUR (Ministero dell’Università) PRIN 2020927WY3_002 and European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant 2021 SYNPHOCAT 101040025 (L.D.). G.G. thanks the MUR for a Young Researchers, Seal of Excellence fellowship (PNRR) funded by the European Union—NextGeneration EU. J.S. thanks the National Science Foundation for generous support for his research programme (CHE-1955524).
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L.D. and J.S. conceived the manuscript and identified the general concepts. The manuscript was written with contributions from all authors. All authors gave approval for the final version of the manuscript.
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Goti, G., Manal, K., Sivaguru, J. et al. The impact of UV light on synthetic photochemistry and photocatalysis. Nat. Chem. 16, 684–692 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-024-01472-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-024-01472-6
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