Cu K-edge polarized x-ray-absorption near-edge structure of Bi2CaSr2Cu2O8

Mechanisms of the Cu(I)-Catalyzed Intermolecular Photocycloaddition Reaction Revealed by Optical and X-ray Transient Absorption Spectroscopies

The [2 + 2] photocycloaddition provides a simple, single-step route to cyclobutane moieties that would otherwise be disfavored or impossible due to ring strain and/or steric interactions. We have used a combination of optical and X-ray transient absorption spectroscopies to elucidate the mechanism of the Cu(I)-catalyzed intermolecular photocycloaddition reaction using norbornene and cyclohexene as model substrates. We find that for norbornene the reaction proceeds through an initial metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) state that persists for 18 ns before the metal returns to the monovalent oxidation state. The Cu K-edge spectrum continues to evolve until ∼5 μs and then remains unchanged for the 50 μs duration of the measurement, reflecting product formation and ligand dissociation. We hypothesize that the MLCT transition and reverse electron transfer serve to sensitize the triplet excited state of one of the norbornene ligands, which then dimerizes with the other to give the product. For the case of cyclohexene, however, we do not observe a charge transfer state following photoexcitation and instead find evidence for an increase in the metal-ligand bond strength that persists for several ns before product formation occurs. This is consistent with a mechanism in which ligand photoisomerization is the initial step, which was first proposed by Salomon and Kochi in 1974 to explain the stereoselectivity of the reaction. Our investigation reveals how this photocatalytic reaction may be directed along strikingly disparate trajectories by only very minor changes to the structure of the substrate.

Effect of atomic vibrations in XANES: polarization-dependent damping of the fine structure at the Cu K-edge of (creat)2CuCl4

Polarization-dependent damping of the fine structure in the Cu K-edge spectrum of creatinium tetrachlorocuprate [(creat)₂CuCl₄] in the X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) region is shown to be due to atomic vibrations. These vibrations can be separated into two groups, depending on whether the respective atoms belong to the same molecular block; individual molecular blocks can be treated as semi-rigid entities while the mutual positions of these blocks are subject to large mean relative displacements. The effect of vibrations can be efficiently included in XANES calculations by using the same formula as for static systems but with a modified free-electron propagator which accounts for fluctuations in interatomic distances.