Abstract

Photocatalysis in Flow

Corey Stephenson, Professor, University of Michigan

Visible light sensitization is an attractive means to initiate organic reactions due to the lack of visible light absorbance by organic compounds reducing side reactions often associated with photochemical reactions conducted with high energy UV light. In particular, the use of photocatalysts such as Ru(bpy)3Cl2 with an appropriate electron donor or electron acceptor permits the selective functionalization of many organic molecules, often resulting in improved chemoselectivity over current approaches while enabling the reduction of stoichiometric waste byproducts and toxic or hazardous reagents. The use of continuous processing techniques may offer the most efficient route to scaling up visible light photoredox methodologies. This talk will summarize the efforts toward this goal with focus on both the potential benefits and challenges associated in implementing this scale up approach. A range of reactions including atom transfer radical addition, reductive dehalogenation and intermolecular radical coupling will be demonstrated in flow with comparison to the corresponding batch processes.