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    Ligand electronic fine-tuning and its repercussion on the photocatalytic activity and mechanistic pathways of the copper-photocatalysed aza-Henry reaction
    (London : RSC Publ., 2020) Li, Chenfei; Dickson, Robert; Rockstroh, Nils; Rabeah, Jabor; Cordes, David B.; Slawin, Alexandra M.Z.; Hünemörder, Paul; Spannenberg, Anke; Bühl, Michael; Mejía, Esteban; Zysman-Colman, Eli; Kamer, Paul C.J.
    A family of six structurally related heteroleptic copper(i) complexes of the form of [Cu(N^N)(P^P)]+ bearing a 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline diimine (N^N) ligand and a series of electronically tunable xantphos (P^P) ligands have been synthesized and their optoelectronic properties characterized. The reactivity of these complexes in the copper-photocatalyzed aza-Henry reaction of N-phenyltetrahydroisoquinoline was evaluated, while the related excited state kinetics were comprehensively studied. By subtlety changing the electron-donating properties of the P^P ligands with negligible structural differences, we could tailor the photoredox properties and relate them to the reactivity. Moreover, depending on the exited-state redox potential of the catalysts, the preferred mechanism can shift between reductive quenching, energy transfer and oxidative quenching pathways. A combined study of the structural modulation of copper(i) photocatalysts, optoelectronic properties and photocatalytic reactivity resulted in a clearer understanding of both the rational design of the photocatalyst and the complexity of competing photoinduced electron and energy transfer mechanisms. © The Royal Society of Chemistry.
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    SET-LRP in biphasic mixtures of fluorinated alcohols with water
    (Cambridge : RSC Publ., 2018) Moreno, Adrian; Liu, Tong; Ding, Liang; Buzzacchera, Irene; Galià, Marina; Möller, Martin; Wilson, Christopher J.; Lligadas, Gerard; Percec, Virgil
    Biphasic-binary mixtures of 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE) or 2,2,3,3-tetrafluoropropanol (TFP) with water were used as reaction media to synthesize well-defined poly(methyl acrylate) (PMA) with chain end functionality close to 100% by SET-LRP. Non-activated Cu(0) wire was used as a catalyst, taking advantage of the Cu(0)-activation property that these fluorinated alcohols possess. Biphasic-binary mixtures of water, containing a ligand and Cu(II)Br2 either generated by disproportionation of Cu(I)Br or externally added, and an organic solvent, containing a monomer and a polymer, were studied. Two N-ligands were investigated: the classic tris(2-dimethylaminoethyl)amine (Me6-TREN) and tris(2-aminoethyl)amine (TREN), as a more economically attractive alternative for technological purposes. The results reported here support the replacement of Me6-TREN by TREN, taking into account the fact that the latter requires small loadings of an externally added Cu(II)Br2 deactivator and a ligand in the water phase to mediate a living radical polymerization process. Both catalytic systems ensure efficient SET-LRP processes with first order kinetics to high conversion, linear dependence of experimental Mn on conversion, narrow molecular weight distribution, and near-quantitative chain end functionality.