Emergence of Phosphinium Radical Cations as Intermediates for Organic Radical Generation

Development of methods with newer strategies for organic radical generation has been a major thrust area of synthetic organic chemistry in the last decade and a half. Often, the radical generation is aided by photoirradiation or electrochemical activation. Phosphinium radical cations, accessed by single electron oxidation or hydrogen atom abstraction, have recently emerged as a unique tool to furnish a variety of organic radicals leading to diverse functional group installations, reductions, cyclization, rearrangements, etc. Herein, we provide an account for the working model of this chemistry and the recent progress of this elegant approach with exciting prospects in the future.