Cu(I)-Glutathione Assembly Supported on ZIF-8 as Robust and Efficient Catalyst for Mild CO 2 Conversions.

The Cu-glutathione (GSH) redox system, essential in biology, is designed here as a supramacromolecular assembly in which the tetrahedral 18e Cu(I) center loses a thiol ligand upon adsorption onto ZIF-8, as shown by EXAFS and DFT calculation, to generate a very robust 16e planar trigonal single-atom Cu(I) catalyst. Synergy between Cu(I) and ZIF-8, revealed by catalytic experiments and DFT calculation, affords CO ₂ conversion into high-value-added chemicals with a wide scope of substrates by reaction with terminal alkynes or propargyl amines in excellent yields under mild conditions and reuse at least 10 times without significant decrease in catalytic efficiency.
(© 2024 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)