16 Copper

Abstract

Highlights of the year's literature include the first complex containing a copper–bismuth bond, the first mixed valence Cu^I/II alkoxides, and evidence of non-redox roles for the Cu_B site in cytochrome c oxidase. The biologically-important {Cu^III(μ-O)₂}₂²⁺ core has been identified in copper-exchanged ZSM-5, which also catalyses efficiently the one-step oxidation of benzene to phenol. Important developments in the Jahn–Teller distortion of copper(II) compounds have been reviewed; bond-stretch isomerism has been identified and the alternation of elongation axes discussed in Jahn–Teller active systems.