Copper’s rapid ascent in visible-light photoredox catalysis

Visible-light photoredox catalysis offers a distinct activation mode complementary to thermal transition metal catalyzed reactions. The vast majority of photoredox processes capitalizes on precious metal ruthenium(II) or iridium(III) complexes that serve as single-electron reductants or oxidants in their photoexcited states. As a low-cost alternative, organic dyes are also frequently used but in general suffer from lower photostability. Copper-based photocatalysts are rapidly emerging, offering not only economic and ecological advantages but also otherwise inaccessible inner-sphere mechanisms, which have been successfully applied to challenging transformations. Moreover, the combination of conventional photocatalysts with copper(I) or copper(II) salts has emerged as an efficient dual catalytic system for cross-coupling reactions.