Photosensitized, energy transfer-mediated organometallic catalysis through electronically excited nickel(II)

Abstract

A nickel's worth of transferred energy Traditional organic photochemistry often relies on sensitizers, molecules that efficiently absorb light and then transfer the energy to other compounds to spur reactivity. Welin et al. leveraged this approach to stimulate an organometallic nickel catalyst. They photoexcited an iridium complex with blue light. The ensuing energy transfer to nickel enabled C–O bond formation, coupling aryl halides with carboxylic acids. A similar approach could generate a variety of additional reactivity patterns through photosensitized transition metal catalysis. Science , this issue p. 380