Meghan G Sullivan, Jesse B Gordon, Brandon M Campbell, Shao-Liang Zheng, Daniel G Nocera
Peroxycarbonate (CO4 2-) is implicated in various biological, catalytic, and energy storage processes - despite the capability of transition metals to guide the reactivity of this unstable intermediate toward productive ends, the coordination chemistry of metal-peroxycarbonate complexes, M(CO4), remains poorly understood. Herein, we describe the synthesis, isolation, and structural characterization of two platinum(II) peroxycarbonate complexes Pt(PPh3)2(CO4) (1) and Pt(dppe)(CO4) (2) (dppe = 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane). Whereas the complexes are thermally stable, they react by oxygen-atom transfer (OAT) when irradiated with visible light. This photoreactivity was investigated using NMR and FT-IR photolysis to identify structures of reaction intermediates and photoproducts, together with kinetic analyses, which establish unimolecular OAT from the CO4 2- ligand to the bound phosphine. In addition to providing rare examples of structurally characterized M(CO4) complexes, this work is the first demonstration of photochemical reactivity in a peroxycarbonate complex.