skip to main content
US FlagAn official website of the United States government
dot gov icon
Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
https lock icon
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( lock ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Title: Bonding and the role of electrostatics in driving C–C bond formation in high valent organocopper compounds
The electronic structures and contrasting reactivity of [Cu(CF3)4]and [Cu(CF3)3(CH3)]were probed using coupled cluster andab initiovalence bond calculations.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1954515
PAR ID:
10470610
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Royal Society of Chemistry
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Chemical Communications
Volume:
59
Issue:
1
ISSN:
1359-7345
Page Range / eLocation ID:
98 to 101
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract We report copper(II) and copper(III) trifluoromethyl complexes supported by a pyridinedicarboxamide ligand (L) as a platform for investigating the role of electron transfer in C(sp2)−H trifluoromethylation. While the copper(II) trifluoromethyl complex is unreactive towards (hetero)arenes, the formal copper(III) trifluoromethyl complex performs C(sp2)−H trifluoromethylation of a wide range of (hetero)arenes. Mechanistic studies using the copper(III) trifluoromethyl complex suggest that the mechanism of arene trifluoromethylation is substrate‐dependent. When the thermodynamic driving force for electron transfer is high, the reaction proceeds through a previously unidentified single electron transfer (SET) mechanism, where an initial electron transfer occurs between the substrate and oxidant prior to CF3group transfer. Otherwise, a CF3radical release/electrophilic aromatic substitution (SEAr) mechanism is followed. These studies provide valuable insights into the role of strong oxidants and potential mechanistic dichotomy in Cu‐mediated C(sp2)−H trifluoromethylation. 
    more » « less
  2. Abstract Visible‐light capture activates a thermodynamically inert CoIII−CF3bond for direct C−H trifluoromethylation of arenes and heteroarenes. New trifluoromethylcobalt(III) complexes supported by a redox‐active [OCO] pincer ligand were prepared. Coordinating solvents, such as MeCN, afford green, quasi‐octahedral [(SOCO)CoIII(CF3)(MeCN)2] (2), but in non‐coordinating solvents the complex is red, square pyramidal [(SOCO)CoIII(CF3)(MeCN)] (3). Both are thermally stable, and2is stable in light. But exposure of3to low‐energy light results in facile homolysis of the CoIII−CF3bond, releasing.CF3radical, which is efficiently trapped by TEMPO.or (hetero)arenes. The homolytic aromatic substitution reactions do not require a sacrificial or substrate‐derived oxidant because the CoIIby‐product of CoIII−CF3homolysis produces H2. The photophysical properties of2and3provide a rationale for the disparate light stability. 
    more » « less
  3. To address a long‐existing debate on what copper species are responsible for efficient CC coupling, especially ethanol formation, in electrochemical CO2reduction reaction, herein, a comprehensive study using Cu3N nanocubes with a uniform size and shape, alongside a single crystalline phase is reported. The Cu3N nanoensemble electrode has a remarkable Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 64% for ethanol production at a relatively low potential of −0.6 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode. Throughin‐operandoX‐ray absorption spectroscopy study, a dynamic phase evolution that directly correlates with changes in FE across varying applied potentials is observed. Notably, the nanoensemble with a composition of ≈71% Cu+and 29% Cu0is identified as being selective for ethanol formation at the low overpotential. Conversely, a predominantly metallic Cu phase formed at potentials more negative than −0.6 V favors the hydrogen evolution reaction. Density functional theory calculations at the Cu3N–Cu interface substantiate that the coexistence of Cu0–Cu+not only energetically favors the ethanol reaction pathway but also destabilizes the intermediates for ethylene pathway. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract Understanding the electronic structures of high‐valent metal complexes aids the advancement of metal‐catalyzed cross coupling methodologies. A prototypical complex with formally high valency is [Cu(CF3)4](1), which has a formal Cu(III) oxidation state but whose physical analysis has led some to a Cu(I) assignment in an inverted ligand field model. Recent examinations of1by X‐ray spectroscopies have led previous authors to contradictory conclusions, motivating the re‐examination of its X‐ray absorption profile here by a complementary method, resonant diffraction anomalous fine structure (DAFS). From analysis of DAFS measurements for a series of seven mononuclear Cu complexes including1, here it is shown that there is a systematic trifluoromethyl effect on X‐ray absorption that blue shifts the resonant Cu K‐edge energy by 2–3 eV per CF3, completely accounting for observed changes in DAFS profiles between formally Cu(III) complexes like1and formally Cu(I) complexes like (Ph3P)3CuCF3(3). Thus, in agreement with the inverted ligand field model, the data presented herein imply that1is best described as containing a Cu(I) ion with dncount approaching 10. 
    more » « less
  5. A CuIIcoordination polymer,catena-poly[[[aquacopper(II)]-bis(μ-4-aminobenzoato)-κ2N:O;κ2O:N] monohydrate], {[Cu(pABA)2(H2O)]·H2O}n(pABA =p-aminobenzoate, C7H4NO2), was synthesized and characterized. It exhibits a one-dimensional chain structure extended into a three-dimensional supramolecular assembly through hydrogen bonds and π–π interactions. While the twinned crystal shows a metrically orthorhombic lattice and an apparent space groupPbcm, the true symmetry is monoclinic (space groupP2/c), with disordered Cu atoms and mixed roles of water molecules (aqua ligand/crystallization water). The luminescence spectrum of the complex shows an emission at 345 nm,cf.349 nm forpABAH. 
    more » « less