Tuning Selectivity in Propylene Epoxidation by Plasmon Mediated Photo-Switching of Cu Oxidation State

Copper in the Spotlight Elemental copper should, in principle, be a productive catalyst for the commercial preparation of propylene oxide; however, in practice, surface oxidation under industrial conditions quickly diminishes selectivity below a useful threshold. Marimuthu et al. (p. 1590 ) now show that irradiating the copper with visible light during the reaction excites surface plasmon resonances that lead to reduction of the oxide coating and restore selectivity.