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Recently, development of general synthetic routes to unnatural α-amino acids has gained significant momentum, driven by the high demand for such building blocks in fundamental research within molecular and structural biology, as well as for development of new pharmaceuticals. Herein, we highlight the recent progress in employing photoredox-mediated synthetic methods for accessing unnatural α-amino acids with a focus on various decarboxylative radical-based strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The selective modification of α-amino acids and peptides constitutes a pivotal arena for accessing new peptide-based materials and therapeutics. In recent years, visible light photoredox catalysis has appeared as a powerful platform for the activation of small molecules via single-electron transfer events, allowing previously inaccessible reaction pathways to be explored. This review outlines the recent advances, mechanistic underpinnings, and opportunities of applying photoredox catalysis to the expansion of the synthetic repertoire for the modification of specific amino acid residues. 1 Introduction 2 Visible-Light-Mediated Functionalization of α-Amino Acids 2.1 Decarboxylative Functionalization Involving Redox-Active Esters 2.2 Direct Decarboxylative Coupling Strategies 2.3 Hypervalent Iodine Reagents 2.4 Dual Photoredox and Transition-Metal Catalysis 2.5 Amination and Deamination Strategies 3 Photoinduced Peptide Diversification 3.1 Gese-Type Bioconjugation Methods 3.2 Peptide Macrocyclization through Photoredox Catalysis 3.3 Biomolecule Conjugation through Arylation 3.4 C–H Functionalization Manifolds 4 Conclusions and Outlook [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]