Cost-effective and efficient photocatalysis are highly desirable in chemical synthesis. Here we demonstrate that readily prepared suspensions of APbBr3 (A is either methylammonium or cesium) type perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) can selectively photocatalyze carbon-carbon bond formation reactions, specifically we demonstrate a-alkylation of aldehydes, with a turn-over-number (TON) of over 52,000 in dichloromethane (DCM) under visible light illumination. With slight modifications of the reaction conditions, a-alkylation, sp3 carbon-couplings and alkyl-halide reductions products can all be selectively synthesized. Pb-halide perovskite materials are revolutionizing photovoltaic research and are now impacting other fields, but their exploration in organic synthesis is rare. Their bandedges are easily tuned by alloying with iodide and chloride and thus give access to a broader range of excited-state redox potentials, which opens up a wider scope of organic substrate catalytic activations. We expect that our low-cost, easy-to-process, highly-efficient and bandedge-tunable photocatalytic system to bring a breakthrough in chemical synthesis.

Lead-halide perovskites for photocatalytic organic synthesis

256th National Meeting (2018)

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