In recent years, photocatalysis has emerged as an increasingly viable tool in C-H activation catalysis with many examples of precious catalysts based on palladium, ruthenium, and rhodium complexes. In contrast, the use of earth-abundant 3d transition metals in photocatalysis is an important research field in our group, with recent examples on copper-catalyzed photo-induced C-H functionalizations.

Selected publications:

P. Gandeepan, J. Mo, L. Ackermann, "Photo-induced Copper-Catalyzed C-H Chalcogenation of Azoles at Room Temperature" Chem. Commun. 2017, 53, 5906-5909.

F. Yang, J. Koeller, L. Ackermann, "Photo-Induced Copper-Catalyzed C-H Arylation at Room Temperature" Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2016, 55, 4759-4762.