High-Valent Copper-Oxygen Species for the Activation of inert C-H bonds – COSACH

This proposal aims at developing new copper-based mononuclear and dinuclear catalysts for C-H bond activation in alkanes. The architecture of these new catalysts will be based on the recent experimental and theoretical investigations on bioinspired models of copper-monoxygenases (LPMO and pMMO). In particular, the project will focus on the generation and in-situ characterization of transient reactive [Cu(II)O•-]+, [Cu(III)OH]2+, [Cu2(III,II)bis(?-oxo)]… species, by using original techniques such as cryo-spectroelectrochemistry and sequential-collisions mass spectrometry. The project covers different fields including synthesis/characterization of new ligands/complexes, generation and identification of the targeted species supported by theoretical calculations, and catalytic studies for substrate oxidation. COSACH is a fundamental research project, which results will certainly impact the field of hydrocarbons oxidation and/or remediation, and more generally in oxidase/oxygenase mimicry.