ChemSusChem
10.1002/cssc.201900716
COMMUNICATION
photocatalytic activity of Bi
Entry 6), which is unfortunately limited by its wider bandgap (2.9
eV, Figure S12b) in contrast to Cs Bi Br . Similarly, the activity
of BiBr (Table 1, Entry 4) may also come from its mild Lewis
acid nature.
2
O
3
for epoxide alcoholysis (Table 1,
Cs
3
Bi
2
Br
9
is proposed as shown in Figure 3c. First, under visible
light irradiation, the photogenerated electrons and holes appear
in the conduction band (CB) and valence band (VB) positions,
respectively, of the Cs
photogenerated holes and the superoxide anions (O
produced from O reduction by the photogenerated electrons
react with the alcohol (e.g., isopropanol) to form alcohol radicals
or anions, which serve as the active nucleophiles for the ring-
opening reaction. Meanwhile, the Bi-based Lewis acid sites on
the photocatalyst activate the epoxide (e.g., styrene oxide) by
coordinating the basic oxygen atom in the three-membered
3
2
9
3
3 2 9
Bi Br perovskite. Subsequently, the
[
32]
●¯
In contrast, the CsPbBr
3
showed much weaker
2
)
Lewis acidity with an IMCT band shift of 2.19 eV (Figure S13a),
even though it has enhanced light absorption efficiency due to
smaller bandgap (2.32 eV, Figure S13b). This also agrees well
2
[
9c, 29]
with the reported literatures.
Thus, weak Lewis acid sites on
Pb-based perovskite could be the key point for its poor activity in
ring-opening reactions.
[
34]
heterocyclic ring of epoxide.
Finally, the desired alcoholysis
product is generated by the backside attack of the activated
epoxide by the alcohol radicals or anions via the traditional
[
19]
nucleophilic substitution reaction pathway.
In summary, through the integration of Cs
3
2 9
Bi Br halide
perovskite synthesis and its photocatalytic evaluation in a one
pot, an efficient approach has been established for the ring-
opening reaction of various epoxides in different alcohols and
thiols to enable synthesis of β-alkoxy alcohols and thia-
compounds at room temperature and under visible light
irradiation. This Cs Bi Br photocatalyst system not only avoids
3 2 9
the utilization of strong acids, but also displays high activity and
good selectivity for epoxide alcoholysis. In comparison, the lead
3
counterpart CsPbBr shows the very poor activity with a conversion
rate of 1%. According to the surface acidity characterization and
control experiments, the high photocatalytic activity can be
ascribed to the coupling effect between photocatalysis and
proper Lewis acid sites on surface of bismuth-based material,
which can help to activate the epoxides.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Silvia Palm and Norbert Pfänder for
recording the electron microscopy images and Jutta Rosentreter
for conducting the GC/GC-MS analysis. The authors thank Prof.
Candace K. Chan for assistance with the revision of this article,
Dr. Cristina Ochoa Hernández for scientific discussions. This
work is supported by the MAXNET Energy consortium of the
Max Planck Society.
Figure 3. a, UV-Vis spectra of the sample Cs
3 2 9
Bi Br adsorbed with alizarin
(
red line), clean Cs Bi Br (blue line) and pure alizarin (black line). b,
3
2
9
Performance results of the control experiments with the addition of scavengers
such as oxalic acid (OA), triethylamine (TEA), benzoquinone (BA) and KI
under visible light irradiation for 5 hours. c, Proposed photocatalytic cycle for
epoxide alcoholysis reaction over Cs Bi Br with proper Lewis acids sites on
3 2 9
surface (The yellow atoms are Bi, pink atoms are Br, and blue atoms are Cs).
Keywords: halide perovskite • epoxides • ring-opening reactions
To further investigate the effect of surface acid sites, we
conducted additional experiments where various additives were
added to the photoreactor (Figure 3b). After addition of an
organic acid (oxalic acid, 0.3 mmol), the photocatalytic activity
was obviously promoted with the conversion increased from
•
visible light photocatalysis • Lewis acid
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epoxide alcoholysis, which is usually driven by strong acid
[
[
16, 22]
catalysts in the thermal catalytic approach.
Furthermore,
the addition of scavengers (benzoquinone as superoxide radical
scavenger and KI as hole accepter) resulted in dramatically
decreased conversions, suggesting the significant participation
[
●
¯
[33]
of O
2
2
and photogenerated holes. The involvement of O was
also confirmed by the observed decreased activity (25%
conversion) in anaerobic conditions (Ar atmosphere).
Considering the photocatalyst performance under different
reaction conditions and the characterization described above,
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