Evolution of Copper Species in Supported CuO Precatalysts in Organic Liquid Phase Reactions: Homogeneous Vs. Heterogeneous Catalysis

Supported copper oxides and soluble copper complexes have been widely applied as catalysts in liquid phase reactions, including C-N, C-O and C-C coupling reactions.  This work demonstrates that leached, soluble copper species are the active species in several key reactions using solid precatalysts, and such solids are not true catalysts.