Graphene oxide sheets can function as a kind of metal-free photocatalyst for the trifluoromethylation of arenes under visible light irradiation.

A photo-induced atom transfer radical addition (ATRA) of aryl chlorides onto alkenes has been developed in the synthesis of chloroalkyl benzenes, in which chlorine radicals and aryl radicals can be generated simultaneously at ambient temperature without the involvement of any initiator or catalyst. The inherently reactive and energetic chlorine radicals also benefit a photo-induced aminocarbony-lation reaction of aryl chlorides with carbon monoxide and amines via a hydrogen-abstraction step. These two reactions can provide an inspiration for organic reaction with a radicaldesigned process. Finally, a photo-induced multi-phase reaction system is extended to flow mode to yield scaled-up products on a gram scale.