Photoredox Cleavage of a C-C Bond in Aromatic Hydrocarbons.

Functionalizing molecules through the selective cleavage of carbon-carbon bonds is an attractive approach in synthetic chemistry. Despite recent advances in both transition-metal catalysis and radical chemistry, the selective cleavage of inert C-C bonds in hydrocarbon feedstocks remains challenging. Examples reported in the literature typically involve substrates containing redox functional groups or highly strained molecules.