Cyclopropenes in Photochemical Reactions

This review covers the reactivity of cyclopropenes under light irradiation. Cyclopropenes have a formidable and complex photochemistry. While fundamental photochemistry of cyclopropenes was early studied, the synthetic potential has not been developed at comparable pace as synthetic photochemistry has recently evolved. In this review, the main types of light-mediated reactivity of cyclopropenes is briefly presented and focus on the synthetic possibilities offered by these reactions. Moreover, photochemical reactions in which cyclopropenes at ground state react with other photo-excited molecules are also presented. Finally, the value of cyclopropenes in a different field as light-mediated bio-orthogonal reactions is succinctly introduced.