Light-powered catalysis has found broad utility as a chemical transformation strategy, with widespread impact on energy, environment, drug discovery and human health. A noteworthy application impacting human health is light-induced sensitization of cofactors for photodynamic therapy in cancer treatment. The clinical adoption of this photosensitization approach has inspired the search for other photochemical methods, such as photoredox catalysis, to influence biological discovery. Over the past decade, light-mediated catalysis has enabled the discovery of valuable synthetic transformations, propelling it to become a highly utilized chemical synthesis strategy. The reaction components required to achieve a photoredox reaction are identical to photosensitization (catalyst, light source and substrate), making it ideally suited for probing biological environments. In this Review, we discuss the therapeutic application of photosensitization and advancements made in developing next-generation catalysts. We then highlight emerging uses of photoredox catalytic methods for protein bioconjugation and probing complex cellular environments in living cells.

光催化作为一种​​化学转化策略具有广泛的用途，对能源、环境、药物发现和人类健康具有广泛的影响。影响人类健康的一个值得注意的应用是在癌症治疗中用于光动力疗法的辅助因子的光诱导敏化。这种光敏方法的临床采用激发了对其他光化学方法（如光氧化还原催化）的探索，以影响生物学发现。在过去的十年中，光介导催化发现了有价值的合成转化，推动它成为一种高度利用的化学合成策略。实现光氧化还原反应所需的反应成分与光敏化（催化剂、光源和底物）相同，使其非常适合探测生物环境。在这篇综述中，我们讨论了光敏化的治疗应用以及在开发下一代催化剂方面取得的进展。然后，我们重点介绍光氧化还原催化方法在蛋白质生物偶联和探测活细胞中复杂细胞环境方面的新兴用途。