Brandon Campbell
As a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard's Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, 2025 Harvard Horizons Scholar Brandon Campbell is pioneering new frontiers in chemical transformations through his project, "All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Silver Photochemistry Sparks New Chemical Transformations." Campbell's research focuses on using silver as a photocatalyst to enable the sustainable activation of trifluoroacetate, a stable yet economically advantageous precursor, with visible light—a breakthrough in the field of photochemistry.
Campbell's work tackles the economic challenge of incorporating fluorine into pharmaceuticals, a process that traditionally relies on costly reagents. By utilizing trifluoroacetate, which is considerably cheaper yet notoriously hard to activate due to its stability, Campbell aims to lower the production costs of fluorinated drugs. His innovative approach employs low-energy visible light, such as blue or green, to harness this inexpensive precursor for trifluoromethylation reactions, which are crucial for drug development.
Central to Campbell's research is the use of silver (Ag²⁺) as a novel photocatalyst. Unlike traditional outer-sphere photocatalysts, which are unable to activate trifluoroacetate with visible light, silver offers the unique capability to oxidize this substrate efficiently through inner-sphere mechanisms. Through a process called ligand-to-metal charge transfer, silver can capture and utilize light energy to cleave bonds between itself and trifluoroacetate, generating reactive radicals that facilitate the desired chemical transformations.
The implications of Campbell's breakthroughs extend beyond cost-effective drug synthesis. The potential to apply his silver-based system to other redox-resistant substrates opens avenues for broader applications, including the synthesis of complex molecules in a more sustainable manner. By converting one of the most chemically resistant substrates, Campbell demonstrates a method that could revolutionize how difficult-to-oxidize molecules are approached in both laboratory and industrial settings.
Ultimately, Brandon Campbell’s research is poised to impact not only the pharmaceutical industry by reducing costs and improving sustainability but also a wide array of chemical processes. His innovative work with silver photocatalysts and visible light sets a foundation for future exploration in photochemistry, potentially transforming how chemists think about molecular synthesis and energy use.
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