Recent advances in light-enabled deoxygenative transformation of alcohols

Abstract

Alcohols, serving as fundamental building blocks in organic synthesis, face inherent challenges in deoxygenative functionalization due to the strong chemical inertness of C-O bond characterized by high bond dissociation energy.Recent advances in photoredox catalytic technology have revolutionized this challenging transformation by leveraging the single-electron transfer (SET) process. Under mild visible light irradiation, this methodology enables homolytic cleavage of C-O bonds in alcohols, with the aid of additional functional handles, generating diverse alkyl radicals that subsequently engage in diverse bond-forming pathways. This review systematically examines radical-mediated C-O bond scission strategies in photoredox systems, elucidating the generation mechanisms and transformation patterns of radical intermediates across distinct reaction pathways. It is anticipated that this review will serve as a valuable resource for researchers in the field of alcohol deoxygenative value-added transformation, and will stimulate significant advances across organic chemistry, pharmaceutical synthesis, materials science, and other related disciplines.