Photocatalytic Precision Editing of Amino Acid Residues: Advances, Mechanisms, and Future Directions

Abstract

Visible-light photoredox catalysis has emerged as a powerful platform to address longstanding challenges in the chemoselective modification of canonical amino acid residues within complex peptide and protein architectures. This review surveys recent advances in photocatalytic functionalization, organized by photocatalyst class to highlight how the distinct physicochemical properties of each catalyst dictate reaction scope and intrinsic limitations. After outlining fundamental photoredox mechanisms and representative catalyst families, we focus on emerging strategic directions, including photobiocatalytic cascades and decarboxylative functionalization methodologies. By adopting a catalyst-centric framework, this review consolidates existing achievements, identifies underexplored reactivity within each class, and offers a forward-looking perspective on the development of next-generation photocatalytic tools for precision protein modification.