Light-Induced Reactivity Switch at O-Activating Bioinspired Copper(I) Complexes.

Using light to unveil unexplored reactivities of earth-abundant metal-oxygen intermediates is a formidable challenge, given the already remarkable oxidation ability of these species in the ground state. However, the light-induced reactivity of Cu-O intermediates still remains unexplored, due to the photoejection of O under irradiation. Herein, we describe a photoinduced reactivity switch of bioinspired O-activating Cu complexes, based on the archetypal tris(2-pyridyl-methyl)amine () ligand.