# Organic photoredox catalysts as sustainable and cost-effective replacement forprecious metal complexes in light-driven drug synthesis

> **NIH NIH R44** · NEW IRIDIUM · 2020 · $766,441

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 The underlying technology developed in this project is photoredox catalysis, an active research area with
growing academic and industrial interest. The impact of photoredox catalysis is expected to exceed palladium
catalysis, the Nobel-prize-winning chemistry that fueled the golden age of drug discovery. Photoredox catalysis
uses light to activate chemical reactions, as opposed to heat in conventional processes. Unique single-electron
radical chemistry is accessed through light absorption enabling new reactivities and unprecedented process
efficiencies e.g. synthesis of drug candidates in fewer steps. Of additional industrial interest, it also permits the
use of low-cost and structurally diverse raw materials in drug development and manufacturing that are otherwise
unreactive in conventional processes. From a public health perspective, photoredox catalysis has the potential
to substantially lower the cost of therapeutics and improve overall human health by enabling accelerated drug
development and reduced drug manufacturing costs.
 Completing this NIH SBIR Phase II project will result in the commercialization of high performance organic
photoredox catalyst (PC) products. PCs are the key enabler of photoredox catalysis. However, PCs
predominantly used today are based on iridium and ruthenium, two rare and expensive precious metals that do
not scale beyond R&D usage, posing serious cost and supply issues for industrial use. Organic PCs provide the
solution. Made from abundant elements, they are sustainable and can easily scale to meet industrial demand.
Notably, the organic PCs of interest here were designed by quantum simulations to possess critical properties
resolving many limitations of earlier generations. In many applications, they were shown to match and in some
cases exceed the performance of precious metal PCs. The organic PCs developed here provide the scalable
solution for photoredox catalysis required for drug development and manufacturing.
 Specifically, this project integrates three main components pivotal to enabling industrial application of
photoredox catalysis, namely i) organic PCs, ii) photochemical reactions, and iii) photoreactor technology. For
organic PCs (Aims 1 and 2), a number of PC candidates will be synthesized with expanded ranges of reactivities
capable of accommodating many industrial reaction conditions. For photochemical reactions (Aims 3 and 4),
novel and medicinally important reactions (with extended substrate scope) with stated customer interest will be
developed using various classes of organic PCs. Finally, for photoreactor integration (Aim 5), commercially
available photoreactor designs and associated reaction conditions will be identified that maximize the
performance of organic PCs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10011197
- **Project number:** 2R44GM131452-02
- **Recipient organization:** NEW IRIDIUM
- **Principal Investigator:** Chern-Hooi Lim
- **Activity code:** R44 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $766,441
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2019-02-05 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10011197

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10011197, Organic photoredox catalysts as sustainable and cost-effective replacement forprecious metal complexes in light-driven drug synthesis (2R44GM131452-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10011197. Licensed CC0.

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