Photocatalytic formation of P–S bonds via CdSeS/CdZnS quantum dots under visible light irradiation

Abstract

In this study, we utilize the highly stable alloy core CdSeS/CdZnS quantum dots (QDs) as a robust photocatalyst for the oxidative dehydrogenative coupling of a wide range of phosphines with aromatic and aliphatic thiols to facilitate P(O)–S bond formation. A wide range of phosphinothioates and phosphonodithioates have been synthesized by this method. The alloy core CdSeS/CdZnS QDs have much lower cadmium content than the traditional binary CdSe/CdS QDs, thereby preventing cadmium contamination in the products. More importantly, our homogeneous alloy core quantum dots exhibit an exceptionally high turn-over number (TON) of 1 × 10⁶ and can be easily recovered and reused in the reaction for at least three cycles without any significant decrease in catalytic efficacy.