Thiolate-mediated photoreduction and aerobic oxidation cycles in a bismuth-bismuth oxide nanosystem towards thiol-to-disulfide photocatalytic transformation

Bismuth(iii) alkanethiolates [Bi(SR)3] formed by reacting Bi2O3 with alkanethiols (RSH) undergo a UV-blue light driven ligand-to-metal charge transfer photoreduction to disulfides and Bi colloids, which are then oxidised to Bi2O3 by dissolved oxygen and reconverted to Bi(SR)3 by RSH to prepare for the next Bi-Bi2O3 photoredox cycle, forming a basis for Bi(iii)-catalysed thiol-to-disulfide conversion. Bi-Bi2O3 photoredox cycles, which run via UV-blue light-sensitive bismuth(iii) thiolates (Bi(SR)3) and dissolved reactive oxygen, play a catalytic role in the net thiol-to-disulfide production.