Sustainable Ir-Photoredox Catalysis by Means of Heterogenization

A heterogenized iridium catalyst was employed to perform photoredox catalysis for a collection of mechanistically orthogonal reactions using very low quantities of iridium (0.01-0.1 mol %). The heterogenized construct consists of an organometallic iridium coordination complex bonded to an aluminum metal oxide solid-state support via an anchoring group. The solid-state support allows for easy recovery and reusability of the catalyst. Evaluation of the catalytic activity was performed with five different reactions, showing broad applicability and demonstrating the general potential for a heterogenized strategy. Moreover, the heterogenized catalyst was shown to be reusable up to five times and also mediated the reactions with much higher efficiency than the original processes by employing the corresponding homogeneous catalyst. As a result of the low catalyst loadings employed, the feasibility of reusage, and faster reaction times, this catalyst offers a more sustainable option when precious metal catalysts are used in organic synthesis. Finally, the catalyst was successfully applied to a gram-scale reaction, showing it is susceptible to scalability.