Covalent organic frameworks for photochemical organic synthesis

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are extensively employed in photochemical organic synthesis, involving pharmaceuticals and optical devices, due to their diverse structural designs, large specific surface area, ordered porous texture, strong stability, and extendable π-conjugated skeleton. This tutorial review introduces the structure features of the COF-based photocatalysts (COF-PC); summarizes feasible strategies for enhancing the catalytic performance of COF-PC; discusses the impacts of COF-PC on several representative organic reactions with huge application value, from electron transfer and energy transfer, respectively; and analyzes current encountering challenges about COF-PC. It attempts to predict the future development tendency of COF-PC and suggest a few practicable advices for fresh researchers to learn the field quickly and for peers to offer some valuable reference.