Photocatalytic Synthesis of Chemicals

Although production of solar fuels from water or carbon dioxide seems still too expensive to compete with fossil fuels, application of photocatalysis for synthesis of valuable organic chemicals may appear an interesting approach. The use of a photocatalyst and light as the energy source can be considered as a green, sustainable alternative for other methods of fine chemicals production. In this chapter we review approaches to synthesize organic compounds in heterogeneous photocatalytic systems. The described reactions can be divided into three main groups due to their mechanisms: (1) reactions of organic substrates with photocatalytically activated small molecules; (2) a direct photocatalytic activation of one organic substrate; and (3) reactions involving a direct activation of two organic molecules. The understanding of plausible mechanisms of the photocatalytic reactions and properties of photocatalytic systems favoring the desired reaction should facilitate the design of new photocatalysts and convenient conditions to synthesize new specific chemicals.