Synthesis and photocatalytic properties of a new paddle-wheel Cu(II) complex: An integrated experimental and theoretical investigation

A new paddle-wheel Cu(II) complex having formula [Cu(L)2(DMF)] (1) (HL = 2-fluorobenzoic acid) has been synthesized and characterized using FTIR and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The single crystal X-ray diffraction study indicates that the carboxylic acid ligand adopt bridging bidentate modes to coordinate Cu(II) centers thereby forming a binuclear copper(II)carboxylate type structure. The complex has been utilized as photocatalyst to photodegrade model aromatic dyes viz. methyl violet (MV) and rhodamine B (Rh B) in UV light. The photocatalytic results indicated that1 offered moderate photocatalytic activity and offers good stability after performing photocatalysis. The plausible mechanism through which 1 exerted photcatalytic property had been proposed by using density of states (DOS) and partial DOS calculations. KEY WORDS: Photocatalysis, Aromatic dyes, 2-Fluorobenzoic acid, Calculation Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2019, 33(2), 285-292.DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v33i2.