Electrophotochemical Asymmetric Catalysis: Merging Electron and Photon to Drive Sustainable Enantioselective Organic Synthesis

Asymmetric catalysis stands at the forefront of modern chemistry, serving as a cornerstone for the efficient synthesis of enantiopure chiral molecules, known for their high selectivity. In recent years, merging electrocatalysis and photocatalysis into a hybrid method called Electrophotoredox catalysis has become the focus of extensive research in organic synthesis, providing powerful and complementary strategies for constructing complex molecular architectures. This short review highlights recent advances on an emerging topic, photoelectrochemical asymmetric catalysis (PEAC) — shows potential for the efficient and sustainable production of enantiomerically enriched compounds by harnessing electron and photon in one pot. This approach facilitates efficient and sustainable redox processes for the formation of an asymmetric centre through C-H functionalization, decarboxylative functionalization, dehydrogenative cycloaddition reaction, cross-coupling, and difunctionalization of olefins.