New paper in Chem. Sci. on pre-association-controlled photochemical PCET

Our latest study, published in Chemical Science, reports a Ti-substituted Keggin polyoxotungstate that photooxidises benzyl alcohol under visible light through a proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) mechanism.

Pre-association of benzyl alcohol at the surface Ti site forms an alkoxide-polyoxometalate complex, activates the cluster for visible-light absorption and drives the subsequent PCET step.

Transient absorption spectroscopy with the group of Dirk Schwarzer, Göttingen, and theoretical computation with the team of Vera Krewald (TU Darmstadt) shed light on the excited-state properties of the system. Pourbaix-analyses were used to study the PCET steps.

Congratulations to Paul Kadereit and Kristin Sellmann, who led the work. The study was funded by SFB 1633 “PCET” and the Max-Planck Graduate Center. Click here to read the paper.

---