New synthetic methods via radical cation fragmentation

A review with 35 refs. is given. Photoinduced single electron transfer followed by radical cation cleavage is a selective method for generating radicals and cations from unconventional substrates under unparalleled mild conditions. The versatility of the method and its synthetic significance are demonstrated through the discussion of selected examples involving alkyl radicals as the key species, such as nucleophilic arom. substitution, addn. to unsaturateded esters, nitriles and ketones, and redn., as well as of an example of addn. to cations