α‐Amino Acids: An Emerging Versatile Synthon in Visible Light‐Driven Decarboxylative Transformations

Abstract α‐Amino acids have been widely recognized as environmental‐benign and non‐fossil carbon sources both in biological and synthetic chemistry. In recent years, with the remarkable development of visible‐light photocatalysis in organic synthesis, α‐amino acid and its derivatives have received tremendous attention as radical precursors via photocatalyzed decarboxylation, thus realizing diverse aminoalkylated transformations or constructions of novel N ‐bearing heterocyclic motifs by taking advantage of N ‐atoms from α‐amino acid. This review aims to provide a comprehensive update on the recent exploitation of α‐amino acids in visible light photocatalysis, with particular emphasis on the types of α‐amino acids employed and their distinct mechanisms applied wherein.