title: Energy and molecules from photochemical/photocatalytic reactions. An overview.
abstract: Photocatalytic reactions have been defined as those processes that require both a (not consumed) catalyst and light. A previous definition was whether such reactions brought a system towards or away from the (thermal) equilibrium. This consideration brings in the question whether a part of the photon energy is incorporated into the photochemical reaction products. Data are provided for representative organic reactions involving or not molecular catalysts and show that energy storage occurs only when a heavily strained structure is generated, and in that case only a minor part of photon energy is actually stored (ΔG up to 25 kcal·mol-1). The green role of photochemistry/photocatalysis is rather that of forming highly reactive intermediates under mild conditions.
authors.affiliation: PhotoGreen Lab, Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia, via Taramelli 12, Pavia 27100, Italy. davide.ravelli@unipv.it.
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ravelli
authors.affiliation: PhotoGreen Lab, Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia, via Taramelli 12, Pavia 27100, Italy. prottistefano@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Protti
authors.affiliation: PhotoGreen Lab, Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia, via Taramelli 12, Pavia 27100, Italy. angelo.albini@unipv.it.
authors.forename: Angelo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Albini
mesh_terms: D002384:Catalysis / Q000528:radiation effects; D003500:Cyclization; D008027:Light; D055668:Photochemical Processes; D013816:Thermodynamics