Photocycloadditions and photorearrangements

Organic synthesis using light as reagent and producing complex molecules from simple starting materials is realized in exemplary fashion in natural photosynthesis. Mankind still struggles for an efficient molecular system that mimics this natural process. In order to harvest light energy and to transform it into chemical energy, photochemical reactions must be studied and optimized for synthetic applications. Two major reaction paths that use electronic excitation are photocycloadditions and photochemical rearrangements. These reactions have been intensively investigated in recent decades in terms of regio-, stereo-, spinand (electronic) configurational selectivities.