Synthetic Polymers To Promote Cooperative Cu Activity for O₂ Activation: <i>Poly vs Mono</i>

We report polymer-promoted cooperative catalysis of Cu for oxygen activation. A series of random copolymers containing dipicolylamine as binding motifs are designed to coordinate type-3 Cu sites. The Cu-copolymers show a 6–8-fold activity enhancement, compared to the molecular complex of Cu with an identical coordination site. Michaelis–Menten analysis demonstrates that the kinetic enhancement results from flexible polymer-promoted cooperative catalysis among multi-Cu sites despite the imposed thermodynamic barrier. These observations provide guidance for the bioinspired design of metallopolymers as soluble catalysts with high activity