Can Surface Plasmon Fields Provide a New Way to Photosensitize Organic Photoreactions? From Designer Nanoparticles to Custom Applications.

In this Perspective, we explore the opportunities that plasmon excitation may offer for the practitioners in organic chemistry. Beyond the interesting physical properties and lively colors of colloidal solutions of noble metal nanostructures, excitation of plasmon transitions can trigger a variety of processes, from the simple heat delivery with pinpoint precision, to the enhanced generation of excited states in the immediate vicinity of the nanoparticle, to electron- and hole-transfer processes that can readily participate in photoredox processes. In understanding how particles are produced, what properties they have, and the diversity of nanostructures and environments in which they can be produced, we aim at providing the small steps toward a paradigm that will allow organic chemists to take advantage of the opportunities that await in the area of plasmon-assisted processes.