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Innovative Green and Photochemical Approaches for Sustainable Organic Synthesis

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Organic Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 828

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Organic Chemistry Laboratory, School of Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH), 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: green chemistry; photocatalysis; photochemical oxidations; photo-metal dual catalysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

The Special Issue “Innovative Green and Photochemical Approaches for Sustainable Organic Synthesis” highlights recent advances in green and photochemical strategies that contribute to the sustainable development of organic synthesis. With increasing global emphasis on environmentally friendly chemical processes, researchers are seeking innovative methods that reduce energy consumption, minimize hazardous waste, and utilize renewable resources. Photochemistry—driven by visible light—has emerged as a powerful and selective tool for activating organic molecules under mild conditions, offering access to novel reactivity and enabling efficient bond-forming reactions.

In parallel, green chemistry principles encourage the design of safer reagents, solvents, and processes, often incorporating bio-based materials and catalytic transformations. This Special Issue invites contributions that explore the intersection of photochemical methodologies and green synthetic approaches in the construction of pharmaceutically and industrially relevant molecules. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, visible-light-driven catalysis, novel photocatalysts, reaction mechanisms, photoinduced radical reactions, dual catalysis (photo/metal), the use of green solvents, mechanochemistry, and flow photochemistry. The goal is to highlight cutting-edge strategies that exploit light energy to achieve selective, efficient transformations—advancing the frontiers of synthetic methodology and sustainable chemistry.

Dr. Petros Gkizis
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • green chemistry
  • photochemistry
  • dual catalysis
  • photooxidation protocols
  • sustainable chemistry
  • material science
  • sustainable synthesis
  • green solvents
  • flow photochemistry
  • organic synthesis

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

14 pages, 1206 KB  
Article
Green Light-Driven Hydroxylation of Boronic Acids Employing g-C3N4 as the Photocatalyst
by Alexandros Emmanouil Troulos, Anastasia Maria Antonaki, Maria Zografaki, Vassilios Binas and Petros L. Gkizis
Molecules 2026, 31(8), 1371; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules31081371 - 21 Apr 2026
Viewed by 356
Abstract
Phenol derivatives display a prominent role in many biologically active molecules. Boron-containing molecules are considered valuable precursors for their synthesis. Therefore, the rise of photochemistry has led many researchers to develop novel, sustainable protocols that exploit the advantages offered by different irradiation sources. [...] Read more.
Phenol derivatives display a prominent role in many biologically active molecules. Boron-containing molecules are considered valuable precursors for their synthesis. Therefore, the rise of photochemistry has led many researchers to develop novel, sustainable protocols that exploit the advantages offered by different irradiation sources. For this reason, the application of novel photocatalysts that promote challenging organic transformations is highly valued. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) is a semiconductor photocatalyst widely used in organic chemistry for promoting complex organic transformations. Herein, we report a green and efficient methodology for the hydroxylation of boronic acids to the corresponding hydroxyl derivatives, using g-C3N4 as the photocatalyst. The heterogeneous photocatalyst (g-C3N4) was prepared by thermal polycondensation of melamine and characterized by XRD, FESEM/EDS, and UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Green LED irradiation was employed as the energy source and air as the active oxidant. A variety of substrates were tested, showcasing excellent functional group tolerance in the aerobic photochemical protocol. Mechanistic studies were conducted to investigate the reaction pathway and to identify the oxygen species generated. Full article
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