Green and sustainable visible light-mediated formation of amide bonds: an emerging niche in organic chemistry

Abstract

The amide bond is one of the most fascinating functional groups in nature due to its stability, conformational diversity, high bond polarity, and abundance in numerous natural products and drug candidates, with a diverse range of biological activities. A plethora of conventional approaches to synthesize amides are present in the literature. The majority of them involve time-consuming workup and substantial waste output, all of which add to the environmental and economic burden. In view of the high demand for amides in the current era due to their numerous biological activities and synthetic utility, a renaissance was stimulated in exploring mild strategies towards their facile preparation. Over the past decade, visible light-mediated methodologies have garnered considerable attention and have become a hot topic, as they allow the synthesis of amides under ecologically benign and mild conditions. In this framework, many researchers have explored the synthesis of amides under visible light irradiation. Therefore, this review is devoted exclusively to the visible light-mediated synthesis of amides, and their reaction mechanisms have been briefly discussed.