Photochemistry
Eu(II) cryptate photocatalyzes bibenzyl coupling
Open access · cc by · source: Europe PMC
A visible-absorbing Eu(II) azacryptate, assembled in situ from EuCl3, ligand and Zn0, reductively couples benzyl chloride to 1,2-diphenylethane with an excited-state potential near −3 V.
Key findings
Stoichiometric irradiation gave 85±2% bibenzyl in 30 min. Catalytic loadings of 5/1/0.5 mol% gave 71/70/60% bibenzyl (~14–120 turnovers). Excited-state E* ≈ −3.0 V vs Ag/AgCl; τ = 0.98 μs; Φ = 37% in MeOH. The system tolerates some water.
Methodology
Authors encapsulated Eu(II) in octaazacryptand 1, measured absorption/emission, lifetime, quantum yield and electrochemistry, then ran blue-light couplings of benzyl chloride with sacrificial Zn0, including wet EuCl3·6H2O conditions.
Limitations
Scope on unactivated aryl bromides is proposed, not demonstrated; E1/2 was measured in DMF not methanol.
How this study connects
Role on claims
Each row is a claim on a concept or method page where this paper supports, challenges, or qualifies the statement. Roles are hand-checked — not a model guess.
A visible-absorbing Eu(II) azacryptate, assembled in situ from EuCl3, ligand and Zn0, reductively couples benzyl chloride to 1,2-diphenylethane with an excited-state potential near −3 V.
Evidence for the claim as stated.
Related papers in this topic
Same topic cluster — not a recommendation engine.