The assembling of a catalytic active copper site, in solution, followed by EXAFS.
Cuprates can be used as reagents for the formation of C-C bonds in organic reactions. The structure of these cuprates under working conditions is still unclear. In this study we will show that EXAFS is a powerful technique to obtain the structural information of these cuprates derived from [Cus(SAr)s] catalysts. It will be shown that the reaction of a parent [Cus(SAr)3] complex with a Grignard reagent (MeMgI) results in re-aggregation of the [Cu3(Smr)3 ] structure. In the case of a threefold excess of MeMgI a structure [R2Cu4(SAr)2], including four Cu centres connected by two carbon and two sulfur bridges, for the newly formed aggregate is proposed. After adding a 6 fold excess of MeMgI to [Cu3(SAr)s], Cu-Mg, Cu-C and C-S contributions were found. For this complex a structure of the type [RCu(SAr)Mg(I)] with