Photocatalytic single electron transfer reactions on TiO2 semiconductor

Abstract

The use of inorganic semiconductor particles such as titanium dioxide (TiO2) has received relatively less attention in organic chemistry, although semiconductor particles have been widely used as a single electron transfer photocatalyst in water-purification, air-cleaning, and self-cleaning. In recent years, the photocatalysis on semiconductor particles has become an active area of research even in organic chemistry, since the heterogeneous semiconductor photocatalysis leads to the unique redox organic reactions. In an early stage, the semiconductor photocatalysis was applied to the oxidation of organic molecules. Semiconductor particles have also the potential to induce the reductive chemical transformations in the absence of oxygen (O2), by using the suitable sacrificial hole scavenger. In this review, we summarize the representative examples of the reductive and oxidative organic reactions using semiconductor particles and the recent applications to the stereoselective reactions.