Visible-light photoredox catalysis offers exciting opportunities to achieve challenging carbon-carbon bond formations under mild and ecologically benign conditions. Desired features of photoredox catalysts are photostability, long excited-state lifetimes, strong absorption in the visible region, and high reduction or oxidation potentials to achieve electron transfer to substrates, thus generating radicals that can undergo synthetic organic transformations. These requirements are met in a convincing way by Ru(II)(phenanthroline)3- and Ir(III)(phenylpyridine)3-type complexes and, as a low-cost alternative, by organic dyes that offer a metal-free catalyst but suffer in general from lower photostability. Cu(I)(phenanthroline)2 complexes have been recognized for more than 30 years as photoresponsive compounds with highly negative Cu(I)* → Cu(II) oxidation potentials, but nevertheless, they have not been widely considered as suitable photoredox catalysts, mainly because their excited lifetimes are shorter by a factor of 5 to 10 compared with Ru(II) and Ir(III) complexes, their absorption in the visible region is weak, and their low Cu(II) → Cu(I) reduction potentials might impede the closure of a catalytic cycle for a given process. Contrasting again with Ru(II)L3 and Ir(III)L3 complexes, Cu(I)L2 assemblies undergo more rapid ligand exchange in solution, thus potentially reducing the concentration of the photoactive species. Focusing on atom transfer radical addition (ATRA) reactions and related processes, we highlight recent developments that show the utility of Cu(I)(phenanthroline)2 complexes as photoredox catalysts, demonstrating that despite their short excited-state lifetimes and weak absorption such complexes are efficient at low catalyst loadings. Moreover, some of the inherent disadvantages stated above can even be turned to advantages: (1) the low Cu(II) → Cu(I) reduction potential might efficiently promote reactions via a radical chain pathway, and (2) the tendency for ligand exchange in Cu(I)L2 assemblies allows the efficient synthesis of heteroleptic Cu(I)LL' complexes to tune the steric and electronic properties and also might coordinate and thus activate substrates in the course of a reaction in addition to electron transfer. Moreover, new photoredox cycles have also been discovered beyond the visible-light-induced Cu(I)* → Cu(II) electron transfer that is arguably best known: examples of the Cu(II)* → Cu(I) and Cu(I)* → Cu(0) transitions have been realized, greatly broadening the potential for copper-based photoredox-catalyzed transformations. Finally, a number of organic transformations that are unique to Cu(I) photoredox catalysts have been discovered.

The diastereomeric mixture of d/l-2,7-diaminooctanedioyl-bis(YRLRY-NH2) (BVD-74D, 2) was described in the literature as a high affinity Y4 receptor agonist. Here we report on the synthesis and pharmacological characterization of the pure diastereomers (2R,7R)- and (2S,7S)-2 and a series of homo- and heterodimeric analogues in which octanedioic acid was used as an achiral linker. To investigate the role of the Arg residues, one or two arginines were replaced by Ala. Moreover, N(ω)-(6-aminohexylaminocarbonyl)Arg was introduced as an arginine replacement (17). (2R,7R)-2 was superior to (2S,7S)-2 in binding and functional cellular assays and equipotent with 17. [(3)H]Propionylation of one amino group in the linker of (2R,7R)-2 or at the primary amino group in 17 resulted in high affinity Y4R radioligands ([(3)H]-(2R,7R)-10, [(3)H]18) with subnanomolar Kd values.

The synthesis of heterocycles is arguably one of the oldest and at the same time one of the youngest disciplines of organic chemistry. Groundbreaking principles to form heterocycles, mainly by condensation reactions, were recognized in the beginning of the 19th century, and many of the classical reactions discovered at that time are still of great value today. In the 21st century, the wealth of synthetic methodology toward heterocycles is overwhelming, and catalysis, in particular, as one of the cornerstones of green and sustainable chemistry has contributed in a major way to these developments. This perspective tries the impossible by discussing some recent advances in the construction of heterocycles, focusing on catalytic methodology. We are aware that we do not come close to giving adequate credit to the great creativity of chemists in the field.

Isonitriles are unique ligands for metal catalysis, owing to the possibility of their steric and electronic tuning as well as their non-innocent nature to undergo transformations with nucleophiles.

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A photo-redox-catalyzed procedure for the one-step formation of sultones from α,ω-alkenols and trifluoromethylsulfonyl chloride is described. Using [Cu(dap)2]Cl (1 mol %), a wide range of substrates can be cleanly converted to the target compounds, while commonly employed photoelectron transfer catalysts such as [Ru(bpy)3]Cl2 or fac-Ir(ppy)3 fail in this transformation. The obtained fluorinated sultones are attractive as potential electrolyte additives or as structural motifs in drug synthesis, with the latter being demonstrated with the synthesis of a trifluoroethyl-substituted analogue of a benzoxathiin that has high anti-arrhythmic activity.

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