NIR-II emissive anionic copper nanoclusters with intrinsic photoredox activity in single-electron transfer

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 4688 - 12
• Main Authors: Liu, Li-Juan, Zhang, Mao-Mao, Deng, Ziqi, Yan, Liang-Liang, Lin, Yang, Phillips, David Lee, Yam, Vivian Wing-Wah, He, Jian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.06.2024; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 119/118; 140/131; 140/58; 639/301/299/890; 639/301/357/404; 639/925/357/537; Alkenes; Copper; Couplings; Cyanides; Electromagnetic absorption; Electron transfer; Fluorine; Humanities and Social Sciences; Iodides; Irradiation; multidisciplinary; Nanoclusters; Near infrared radiation; Nucleophiles; Photocatalysis; Photoexcitation; Room temperature; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Single electrons; Styrenes; Substrates
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49081-8

Ultrasmall copper nanoclusters have recently emerged as promising photocatalysts for organic synthesis, owing to their exceptional light absorption ability and large surface areas for efficient interactions with substrates. Despite significant advances in cluster-based visible-light photocatalysis, the types of organic transformations that copper nanoclusters can catalyze remain limited to date. Herein, we report a structurally well-defined anionic Cu 40 nanocluster that emits in the second near-infrared region (NIR-II, 1000−1700 nm) after photoexcitation and can conduct single-electron transfer with fluoroalkyl iodides without the need for external ligand activation. This photoredox-active copper nanocluster efficiently catalyzes the three-component radical couplings of alkenes, fluoroalkyl iodides, and trimethylsilyl cyanide under blue-LED irradiation at room temperature. A variety of fluorine-containing electrophiles and a cyanide nucleophile can be added onto an array of alkenes, including styrenes and aliphatic olefins. Our current work demonstrates the viability of using readily accessible metal nanoclusters to establish photocatalytic systems with a high degree of practicality and reaction complexity. Copper nanoclusters have so far been limited in the types of organic transformations they can catalyze. Here the authors introduce a new NIR-II emissive anionic copper nanocluster with intrinsic photoredox activity, enabling efficient photocatalytic three-component radical couplings.