It was envisaged upon irradiation, the excited state of the anthracene photocatalyst would undergo photoinduced SET from a sacrificial reductant (DIPEA) via a reductive quenching cycle. The anthracene radical anion that is generated is a potent reducing agent (E°1/2 = -1.95 V vs SCE) that can reduce Weinreb amide 1a (E°1/2 = -1.90 V vs SCE) to generate the ketyl radical (I). Upon a