Single-atom copper catalyst for the -arylation reaction to produce diaryl disulfides.

Single-atom Cu supported on CeO nanorod catalysts (Cu/CeO ) have been synthesized through the anchoring of copper by terminal hydroxyl groups on the CeO surface. The oxygen defect characteristics of the CeO nanorods promote electron transfer between Cu and CeO through a Ce-O-Cu interface, which realizes flexible electronic regulation of the Cu sites. Single-atom Cu species with an oxidation state of between +1 and +2 were formed, which was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray fine structure spectroscopy, and electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Cu/CeO emerged as a catalyst with advanced catalytic performance for elemental sulfur in -arylation using aryl iodides, achieving 97.1% iodobenzene conversion and 94.8% selectivity toward diphenyl disulfide. The substituted iodobenzene with different electronic or steric groups successfully realized -arylation and produced the corresponding diaryl disulfides with high selectivity. The fully exposed single-atom Cu with flexible electronic characteristics successively realized oxidative addition or coordination of multiple substrates, making it possible to obtain diaryl disulfide with high selectivity.