Harnessing Potent Reductants via Multiphoton Tandem Photoredox Catalysis

Title: Harnessing Potent Reductants via Multiphoton Tandem Photoredox Catalysis  

Speaker: A/Prof. Anastasios Polyzos, School of Chemistry, The University of Melbourne

Abstract: The renaissance of photoredox catalysis has invigorated the discovery of new reactivity in synthetic chemistry. Despite advances in the field, the development of photoredox catalysed methods that engage inert organic substrates in single electron transfer (SET) mediated transformations, generally remains beyond the scope of contemporary catalyst design. To address this challenge, we have recently reported a tandem catalytic cycle of [Ir(ppy)2(dtb-bpy)]+, which generates a highly reducing iridium analogue (Ir2*) in situ via a multiphoton promoted second catalytic cycle1. This tandem catalytic strategy unlocks the reactivity of energy demanding substrates including organohalides2, olefins3 and imines with a single, readily available, photocatalyst with mild reaction conditions, and exceptional functional group tolerance. The discovery and application of this platform to the development of strategic organic transformation in batch, and flow will be discussed.