Studies on bio-inspired N, O-donor ligands-based Cu(II) complexes in photocatalysis

Abstract

Ligands are ions or molecules that formally donate at least one electron pair to the metal center [1]. The interaction(s) between the metal and donor system can be significantly influenced by both the electronic as well as steric properties of the ligand [2]. It follows that the design and synthesis of new ligands have significantly enriched the field of organometallic and transition-metal coordination chemistry. The diversities in structures and reactivity of the ligands have led to the synthesis of an extensive range of transition metal coordination and organometallic complexes. The synthesized compounds can show enormous potential to get utilized in pharmaceuticals (drug development), material industries (polymers), and biomedical applications (Figure 1) [3-6]. In addition, these transition metal complexes can also play significant roles in catalysis (organic transformation), sensing, and different biological processes and can act as metalloenzyme mimics.