An "All‐Green" Catalytic Cycle of Aqueous Photoionization. Issue 37 (22nd July 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Goez, Martin; Kerzig, Christoph; Naumann, Robert
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie international edition. Volume 53:Issue 37(2014)
• Page Start: 9914
• Page End: 9916
• Publication Date: 2014-07-22
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201405693
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1433-7851

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" xml:lang="en"> <title>Abstract</title> <p>Hydrated electrons are highly aggressive species that can force chemical transformations of otherwise unreactive molecules such as the reductive detoxification of halogenated organic compounds. We present the first example of the sustainable production of hydrated electrons through a homogeneous catalytic cycle driven entirely by green light (532 nm, coinciding with the maximum of the terrestrial solar spectrum). The catalyst is a metal complex serving as a "container" for a radical anion. This active center is generated from a ligand through quenching by a sacrificial electron donor, is shielded by the complex such that it stores the energy of the photon for much longer than a free radical anion could, and is finally ionized by another photon to regenerate the ligand and recover the starting complex quantitatively. The sacrificial donor can be a bioavailable reagent such as ascorbic acid.</p> </abstract>