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Light can be considered an ideal reagent for environmentally friendly, 'green' chemical synthesis; unlike many conventional reagents, light is non-toxic, generates no waste, and can be obtained from renewable sources. Nevertheless, the need for high-energy ultraviolet radiation in most organic photochemical processes has limited both the practicality and environmental benefits of photochemical synthesis on industrially relevant scales. This Perspective describes recent approaches to the use of metal polypyridyl photocatalysts in synthetic organic transformations. Given the remarkable photophysical properties of these complexes, these new transformations, which use Ru(bpy)32+ and related photocatalysts, can be conducted using almost any source of visible light, including both store-bought fluorescent light bulbs and ambient sunlight. Transition metal photocatalysis thus represents a promising strategy towards the development of practical, scalable industrial processes with great environmental benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on photoinitiated [2+2] acyclic enone cycloaddition. It analyzes whether crossed intermolecular [2+2] heterodimerizations would be possible using two different enone substrates. The authors report that under the photocatalytic conditions they have developed, intermolecular dimerizations of enones could be performed.

The article discusses the study which develops new strategies for efficient visible light photocatalysis of synthetic transformations. It examines the [2+2] cycloaddition of bis(enone) 1 for the investigations into visible light photocatalysis. Key information on the methodologies and results is further presented.