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Super-reducing photoredox catalyst paves a new way for arene reduction Bio-inspired catalyst can reduce arenes without the need for harsh conditions

Check out our work featured in Chemistry World! www.chemistryworld.com/news/super-r...

👇 SuPRCat postdoc Amreen Bains in action!

Light-powered reactions could make the chemical manufacturing industry more energy-efficient Chemical manufacturing is an energy-intensive industry. A team of chemists is designing a technique that could power the necessary reactions with sunlight or LEDs.

And here is an article we wrote about this work with The Conversation: theconversation.com/light-powere...

Efficient super-reducing organic photoredox catalysis with proton-coupled electron transfer mitigated back electron transfer Photoredox catalysis driven by visible light has improved chemical synthesis by enabling milder reaction conditions and unlocking distinct reaction mechanisms. Despite the transformative impact, visib...

Congrats to Amreen and Arindam and the whole team on getting their work out in Science today!! www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Substrate-Photocatalyst Reactivity Matching Enables Broad Aryl Halide Scope in Light-Driven, Reductive Cross-Electrophile Coupling Using 13C NMR as a Predictor The cross-electrophile coupling between aryl and alkyl halides is an important synthetic tool in the creation of Csp2–Csp3 bonds from abundant building blocks. These couplings have traditionally relied on thermally driven, reductive couplings using metallic Zn/Mn to generate reactive low-valent nickel species. Recent work has expanded this reactivity to visible light-driven methodologies utilizing a range of photocatalysts and terminal reductants. However, early photocatalyzed approaches required the use of precious metal photocatalysts and stoichiometric amounts of a costly silane. The work described herein expands photoredox catalyzed cross-electrophile coupling with a focus on the use of organic photocatalysts and an inexpensive, readily available sacrificial electron source (triethanolamine). To overcome limitations in substrate scope arising from redox incompatibilities between photocatalyst and substrate, we introduce two sets of conditions that minimize unwanted substrate-specific side reactivity. These synthetic protocols enable cross-electrophile couplings of challenging aryl bromide substrates, such as unprotected bromoindoles and 2-bromopyrimidines. We found that the propensity of aryl halide reagents to undergo side reactions is correlated with electronic parameters: the C–Br 13C chemical shift of aryl bromides is a robust predictor for this reactivity and enables facile reaction condition selection.

Congrats to Cam, Zach, Graham, Raul, Amreen, Claire, Trevor, Max, and David on their publication in ACS Catalysis!
pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Celebrate! Colorado State award winners for 2025 Each year, Colorado State University celebrates the teaching, research and service achievements of CSU students, alumni and friends, academic faculty, administrative professionals and classified staff...

source.colostate.edu/celebrate-co...

2025 Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards - Dreyfus Foundation Dedicated to the advancement of the chemical sciences.

www.dreyfus.org/2025-camille...

Congrats to SuPRCats Prof. Zach Wickens (@zachwickens.bsky.social) for being selected as a Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar for 2025 and Prof. Garret Miyake (not-on-bluesky) for being selected for CSU's scholarship impact award! Check out the details below!

Influence of Dihydrophenazine Photoredox Catalyst Excited State Character and Reduction Potentials on Control in Organocatalyzed Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization The development of N,N-diaryl dihydrophenazine organic photoredox catalysts (PCs) has enabled numerous examples of organocatalyzed atom transfer radical polymerization (O-ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer to polymers with low dispersity (Đ < 1.30) and near-unity initiator efficiency (I* ∼ 100%), as well as small molecule synthesis. In this work, we investigate the influence of core substitution (CS) by alkyl, aryl, and heteroatom groups on singlet excited state reduction potential (ES1°*). We observe that a highly reducing ES1°* is in part a result of a locally excited (LE)-dominated hybridized local and charge transfer (HLCT) excited state in CS PCs, which is influenced by the identity of the core substituent. Additionally, the PCs that possess a LE-dominated HLCT character maintain a relatively oxidizing PC radical cation oxidation potential (E1/2) for deactivation in O-ATRP compared to fully LE PCs reported in prior work. For example, a thiophenol core substituted (heteroatom CS, HetCS) PC shows the most negative ES1°* (−2.07 V vs SCE), more LE character (Stokes shift = 124 nm), and has an oxidizing PC radical cation (E1/2 = 0.30 V vs SCE). The CS PCs with improved properties, including more negative ES1°*, perform best in O-ATRP of MMA with the HetCS PC showing the best control in both DMAc (Đ = 1.08, I* = 89%) and EtOAc (Đ = 1.06, I* = 97%). Additionally, the HetCS PC was found to mediate the controlled polymerization of n-butyl acrylate (n-BA) (Đ = 1.24, I* = 97%), which has remained challenging in O-ATRP without supplemental deactivation strategies. An aryl CS PC was found to have moderate control as low as 1 ppm PC, indicating facilitation of low PC loadings (Đ = 1.33, I* = 69%). The relationship between excited state character, ES1°*, and polymerization control observed in this work provides a foundation for increasing the utility of phenazine PCs across photoredox catalysis.

Congrats to former SuPRCat-er and recent grad Katrina on her publication in ACS Catalysis! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

If anyone knows of other public forums where we could share this work, please DM us!!

Science on Tap yesterday was a hit! Congrats to Ally and Jess for sharing their work with our community!

Check out this Chemistry World piece highlighting exciting work from our researchers on using visible-light-powered catalysts to clean up PFAS!

‘Forever’ chemicals can be destroyed with clever chemistry — now test these techniques outside the lab Chemistry that can break carbon–fluorine bonds in persistent molecules called PFAS could help to clean up the environment. Testing in real-world settings must come next.

Congrats to our fearless postdoc Mihai Popescu, and thanks to collaborators in the Miyake and Damrauer laboratories, we report a new method to break down #PFAS with visible light in @natureportfolio.bsky.social today:

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Happy Fluorescence Friday! Check out these beautiful Pt(II) complexes phosphorescing under UV light!

In-Situ Photoreaction Quantum Yield Measurements and Red-Light Actinometry Using Methylene Blue and Ascorbic Acid: Experiments for Analytical and Physical Chemistry In an effort to keep undergraduate chemical education at pace with contemporary interest in photochemical methodologies, we have identified a straightforward system for which steady-state photochemical kinetics may can be tracked via in situ UV–vis spectroscopy: an aqueous solution of methylene blue and ascorbic acid. Under red-light illumination, methylene blue forms a highly oxidizing excited state which is reduced by ascorbic acid, resulting in the colorless leucomethylene blue and the loss of methylene blue spectral features. Using a laser diode of steady output power, the quantum yield of the photoreaction was experimentally determined to be Φrxn = 0.106─indicating that about one in ten absorbed photons results in a productive reaction in this system. Φrxn is a critical metric in developing efficient photochemical reactions. The reaction was then used as a chemical actinometer to measure the power of an inexpensive red laser pointer and LED. These facile experiments can be employed in analytical and physical chemistry courses to expose students to important photochemical concepts through the familiar lens of UV–vis spectroscopy.

Check out our latest paper in JChemEd that brings photochemistry to the undergrad lab! Using methylene blue + ascorbic acid under red light, students can track steady-state kinetics & determine quantum yields using UV-vis. A fun, hands-on intro to photochemistry! 🧪✨
pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Second paper described is from a few of our own researchers!!

YouTube video by Colorado State University Sustainable Photoredox Catalysis l CSU Chemistry Innovation Shines Bright

💡 SuPrCat 💡
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MprZ...