Advances
in visible light-photocatalyzed preparative synthetic
organic transformations in water or aqueous media are studied. Both
the convenience of visible light photocatalytic strategies to achieve
synthetic organic transformations and the employment of water or aqueous
mixtures make this approach a very resourceful methodology. Mechanistic
aspects for such photocatalyzed processes are discussed. The effects
of water in the stereoselectivity of some reactions and considerations
regarding the improved enantioselectivity in chiral catalytic photoredox
reactions are manifested with the use of water. The use of water as
a result of a protocol improvement or environmentally friendlier methodology
as compared to the same reaction performed in organic solvents are
also considered. All these combined effects of water as a reaction
medium or its very presence in photocatalytic reactions have an ultimate
goal which is to diminish the environmental impact of synthetic and
photocatalytic processes. This perspective highlights the progress
and state of the art organic transformations realized by photocatalytic
techniques in water or aqueous systems as well as water as a reactant.
In this regard, aromatic substitution reactions, radical additions
to carbon–carbon double bonds, photooxidation reactions, decarboxylation
processes, and miscellaneous reactions are presented.