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Updated: Dec 6, 2025

Photogeneration of N-Heterocyclic Carbenes: Application in Photoinduced Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization
Published on: November 29, 2018
Single-Electron Transfer Reactions Enabled by N-Heterocyclic Carbene Organocatalysis
Qing-Zhu Li1, Rong Zeng1, Bo Han2
1Antibiotics Research and Re-evaluation Key Laboratory, of Sichuan Province, Sichuan Industrial Institute of Antibiotics, Chengdu University, Chengdu, 610052, P.R. China.
Abstract:
Over the past decades, N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) organocatalysis has undergone a flourish of development on the basis of closed-shell reaction paths. By contrast, the emerging area of single-electron transfer (SET) reactions enabled by NHC catalysis still remain underdeveloped, but offer plenty of opportunities to develop new catalytic modes and useful synthetic methods. A number of interesting transformations were triggered by the SET process from the electron-rich Breslow intermediates to various single-electron acceptors. In additions, recent studies revealed that the Breslow radical cations could also be generated by single-electron reduction of the electron-deficient acyl azolium intermediates. These discoveries open a new avenue for NHC organocatalysis to harness radical reactions. The present review will focus on the exciting advancements in the dynamic area of radical NHC organocatalysis.
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