Iron Photoredox Catalysis-Past, Present, and Future
Overview
Affiliations
Photoredox catalysis of organic reactions driven by iron has attracted substantial attention throughout recent years, due to potential environmental and economic benefits. In this Perspective, three major strategies were identified that have been employed to date to achieve reactivities comparable to the successful noble metal photoredox catalysis: (1) Direct replacement of a noble metal center by iron in archetypal polypyridyl complexes, resulting in a metal-centered photofunctional state. (2) In situ generation of photoactive complexes by substrate coordination where the reactions are driven via intramolecular electron transfer involving charge-transfer states, for example, through visible-light-induced homolysis. (3) Improving the excited-state lifetimes and redox potentials of the charge-transfer states of iron complexes through new ligand design. We seek to give an overview and evaluation of recent developments in this rapidly growing field and, at the same time, provide an outlook on the future of iron-based photoredox catalysis.
Wavelength-Selective Reactivity of Iron(III) Halide Salts in Photocatalytic C-H Functionalization.
Ludwig C, Owolabi I, Evans L, Smith G, Ramos A, Shepherd J J Org Chem. 2025; 90(9):3404-3411.
PMID: 39993181 PMC: 11894668. DOI: 10.1021/acs.joc.4c03107.
Making Mo(0) a Competitive Alternative to Ir(III) in Phosphors and Photocatalysts.
Jin T, Sinha N, Wagner D, Prescimone A, Haussinger D, Wenger O J Am Chem Soc. 2025; 147(5):4587-4594.
PMID: 39847344 PMC: 11803708. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c16672.
Iron-Catalyzed Aerobic Carbonylation of Methane via Ligand-to-Metal Charge Transfer Excitation.
Pan H, An Q, Mai B, Chen Y, Liu P, Zuo Z J Am Chem Soc. 2025; 147(2):1440-1447.
PMID: 39760382 PMC: 11744741. DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c16449.
Selective Arene Photonitration via Iron-Complex β-Homolysis.
Liu S, Gan Z, Jiang M, Liao Q, Lu Y, Wang H JACS Au. 2024; 4(12):4899-4909.
PMID: 39735909 PMC: 11672136. DOI: 10.1021/jacsau.4c00880.
Visible Light-Driven Excited-State Copper-BINAP Catalysis for Accessing Diverse Chemical Reactions.
Mukherjee U, Shah J, Ngai M Chem Catal. 2024; 4(11).
PMID: 39735819 PMC: 11671124. DOI: 10.1016/j.checat.2024.101184.