Ligand-to-metal charge transfer facilitates photocatalytic oxygen atom transfer (OAT) with -dioxo molybdenum(vi)-Schiff base complexes.

Systems incorporating the -Mo(O) motif catalyse a range of important thermal homogeneous and heterogeneous oxygen atom transfer (OAT) reactions spanning biological oxidations to platform chemical synthesis. Analogous light-driven processes could offer a more sustainable approach. The -Mo(O) complexes reported here photocatalyse OAT under visible light irradiation, and operate a non-emissive excited state with substantial ligand-to-metal charge-transfer (LMCT) character, in which a Mo[double bond, length as m-dash]O π*-orbital is populated transfer of electron density from a chromophoric salicylidene-aminophenol (SAP) ligand.

Siderophore-Linked Ruthenium Catalysts for Targeted Allyl Ester Prodrug Activation within Bacterial Cells.

Due to rising resistance, new antibacterial strategies are needed, including methods for targeted antibiotic release. As targeting vectors, chelating molecules called siderophores that are released by bacteria to acquire iron have been investigated for conjugation to antibacterials, leading to the clinically approved drug cefiderocol. The use of small-molecule catalysts for prodrug activation within cells has shown promise in recent years, and here we investigate siderophore-linked ruthenium catalysts for the activation of antibacterial prodrugs within cells.