Prof. Licheng Sun’s group in the Center of Artificial Photosynthesis for Solar Fuels at Westlake University published a research paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. The paper is titled “Reversible structural isomerization of nature’s water oxidation catalyst prior to O–O bond formation”.
The research reported that the reversible isomerism of the oxygen-evolving complex, which is suppressed in the S3+Yz state, is fully recovered in the ensuing S3nYz• state due to the proton release from a manganese-bound water ligand. The altered coordination strength of the manganese−ligand facilitates formation of the closed-cubane form, in a dynamic equilibrium with the open-cubane form.
Dr. Yu Guo from Westlake University is the first author. Prof. Licheng Sun is the corresponding author.