Lindau Lecture: The Development of Photocatalytic Reactions of Value to Chemists and Biologists

David MacMillan

Original abstract: This lecture will discuss the application of visible light photocatalysis to the discovery or invention of transformations that will be conceptually or synthetically valuable (and sometimes, hopefully, both).  We will describe why a healthy balance of reaction discovery and mechanistic understanding has been important to the development of a field of research that is now being widely adopted in medicinal chemistry settings.  In particular, we will discuss the application of photocatalysis to the development of new metallaphotoredox coupling reactions involving SH2 mechanisms, a development that we hope will have an impact on the discovery of new biologically relevant molecules. Finally, we will examine an exciting recent application of photoredox catalysis in my group; namely, the high-resolution µ-map technology, which provides a powerful means to probe biological pathways at the subcellular level.

To signify the close bond between the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings and the Heidelberg Laureate Forum, each year a laureate is selected to give a guest lecture at the respective meeting. This year’s Lindau Lecture was given by David MacMillan, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2021 together with Benjamin List “for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis.”