Photocatalysis: A step closer to the perfect synthesis

The complexity of molecules with biological and therapeutic interests is still growing and still creating continuous challenges that are faced with the development of the synthesis strategies taking into account the environmental issues. Photocatalysis has became a pillar of engineering molecular structures that accelerated the development and afforded complementarity to diverse reaction processes; this method consists of the use of light sources in order to excite catalysts that are able to activate a variety of substrates in a controlled and predictable manner. Photocatalysis could be considered as one of the cleanest synthesis pathways due to the mild condition used where neither high temperatures nor notorious materials are used. This outlook aims to highlight recent developments of photocatalyzed strategies that permit to undergo functionalization, cycloaddition, and coupling reactions. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.