Merging Visible Light Photoredox Catalysis with Metal Catalyzed C–H Activations: On the Role of Oxygen and Superoxide Ions as Oxidants

The development of efficient catalytic systems for direct aromatic C-H bond functionalization is a long-desired goal of chemists, because these protocols provide environmental friendly and waste-reducing alternatives to classical methodologies for C-C and C-heteroatom bond formation. A key challenge for these transformations is the reoxidation of the in situ generated metal hydride or low-valent metal complexes of the primary catalytic bond forming cycle. To complete the catalytic cycle and to regenerate the C-H activation catalyst, (super)stoichiometric amounts of Cu(II) or Ag(I) salts have often been applied. Recently, "greener" approaches have been developed by applying molecular oxygen in combination with Cu(II) salts, internal oxidants that are cleaved during the reaction, or solvents or additives enabling the metal hydride reoxidation. All these approaches improved the environmental friendliness but have not overcome the obstacles associated with the overall limited functional group and substrate tolerance. Hence, catalytic processes that do not feature the unfavorable aspects described above and provide products in a streamlined as well as economically and ecologically advantageous manner would be desirable. In this context, we decided to examine visible light photoredox catalysis as a new alternative to conventionally applied regeneration/oxidation procedures. This Account summarizes our recent advances in this expanding area and will highlight the new concept of merging distinct redox catalytic processes for C-H functionalizations through the application of visible light photoredox catalysis. Photoredox catalysis can be considered as catalytic electron-donating or -accepting processes, making use of visible-light absorbing homogeneous and heterogeneous metal-based catalysts, as well as organic dye sensitizers or polymers. As a consequence, photoredox catalysis is, in principle, an ideal tool for the recycling of any given metal catalyst via a coupled electron transfer (ET) process. Here we describe our first successful endeavors to address the above challenges by combining visible light photoredox catalysis with different ruthenium, rhodium, or palladium catalyzed C-H activations. Since only small amounts of the oxidant are generated and are immediately consumed in these transformations, side reactions of substrates or products can be avoided. Thus, usually oxidant-sensible substrates can be used, which makes these methods highly suitable for complex molecular structure syntheses. Moreover, mechanistic studies shed light on new reaction pathways, intermediates, and in situ generated species. The successful development of our dual catalysis concept, consisting of combined visible light photoredox catalysis and metal catalyzed C-H functionalization, provides many new opportunities for further explorations in the field of C-H functionalization.