Water oxidation catalysis constitutes the bottleneck for the development of energy-conversion schemes based on sunlight. To date, state-of-the-art homogeneous water oxidation catalysis is performed efficiently with expensive, toxic and earth-scarce transition metals, but 3d metal-based catalysts are much less established. Here we show that readily available, environmentally benign iron coordination complexes catalyse homogeneous water oxidation to give O(2), with high efficiency during a period of hours. Turnover numbers >350 and >1,000 were obtained using cerium ammonium nitrate at pH 1 and sodium periodate at pH 2, respectively. Spectroscopic monitoring of the catalytic reactions, in combination with kinetic studies, show that high valent oxo-iron species are responsible for the O-O forming event. A systematic study of iron complexes that contain a broad family of neutral tetradentate organic ligands identifies first-principle structural features to sustain water oxidation catalysis. Iron-based catalysts described herein open a novel strategy that could eventually enable sustainable artificial photosynthetic schemes.

A non-heme iron complex that catalyzes highly enantioselective epoxidation of olefins with H2O2 is described. Improvement of enantiomeric excesses is attained by the use of catalytic amounts of carboxylic acid additives. Electronic effects imposed by the ligand on the iron center are shown to synergistically cooperate with catalytic amounts of carboxylic acids in promoting efficient O-O cleavage and creating highly chemo- and enantioselective epoxidizing species which provide a broad range of epoxides in synthetically valuable yields and short reaction times.

To obtain mechanistic insights into the inherent reactivity patterns for copper(I)–O2 adducts, a new cupric–superoxo complex [(DMM-tmpa)CuII(O2•–)]+ (2) [DMM-tmpa = tris((4-methoxy-3,5-dimethylpyridin-2-yl)methyl)amine] has been synthesized and studied in phenol oxidation–oxygenation reactions. Compound 2 is characterized by UV–vis, resonance Raman, and EPR spectroscopies. Its reactions with a series of para-substituted 2,6-di-tert-butylphenols (p-X-DTBPs) afford 2,6-di-tert-butyl-1,4-benzoquinone (DTBQ) in up to 50% yields. Significant deuterium kinetic isotope effects and a positive correlation of second-order rate constants (k2) compared to rate constants for p-X-DTBPs plus cumylperoxyl radical reactions indicate a mechanism that involves rate-limiting hydrogen atom transfer (HAT). A weak correlation of (kBT/e) ln k2 versus Eox of p-X-DTBP indicates that the HAT reactions proceed via a partial transfer of charge rather than a complete transfer of charge in the electron transfer/proton transfer pathway. Product analyses, 18O-labeling experiments, and separate reactivity employing the 2,4,6-tri-tert-butylphenoxyl radical provide further mechanistic insights. After initial HAT, a second molar equiv of 2 couples to the phenoxyl radical initially formed, giving a CuII–OO–(ArO′) intermediate, which proceeds in the case of p-OR-DTBP substrates via a two-electron oxidation reaction involving hydrolysis steps which liberate H2O2 and the corresponding alcohol. By contrast, four-electron oxygenation (O–O cleavage) mainly occurs for p-R-DTBP which gives 18O-labeled DTBQ and elimination of the R group.

Copper is one of the most abundant and less toxic transition metals. Nature takes advantage of the bioavailability and rich redox chemistry of Cu to carry out oxygenase and oxidase organic transformations using O2 (or H2O2) as oxidant. Inspired by the reactivity of these Cu-dependent metalloenzymes, chemists have developed synthetic protocols to functionalize organic molecules under enviormentally benign conditions. Copper also promotes other transformations usually catalyzed by 4d and 5d transition metals (Pd, Pt, Rh, etc.) such as nitrene insertions or C–C and C–heteroatom coupling reactions. In this review, we summarized the most relevant research in which copper promotes or catalyzes the functionalization of organic molecules, including biological catalysis, bioinspired model systems, and organometallic reactivity. The reaction mechanisms by which these processes take place are discussed in detail.

Check for cavities: An exceptionally active nonheme iron catalyst employs H2O2 as an oxidant for the stereospecific hydroxylation of alkanes (see scheme). The iron site is located in a chemically robust cavity made up by the ligands.