# Upconverted Hot Electrons and Solvated Electrons from Mn-Doped Semiconductor Nanocrystals for Photochemistry: Perspective

## TL;DR

This paper explores how Mn-doped semiconductor nanocrystals generate high-energy electrons for driving challenging chemical reactions in liquids.

## Contribution

The paper highlights Mn-mediated Auger upconversion as a novel method for generating highly energetic hot electrons.

## Key findings

- Mn-doped nanocrystals produce hot electrons with energy exceeding the vacuum level.
- These electrons can be emitted or form reactive solvated electrons in liquid media.
- They enable new pathways for thermodynamically and kinetically demanding reactions.

## Abstract

Hot electrons photogenerated
in semiconductor nanocrystals enable
powerful redox reactivity due to their large excess energy and their
capability for long-range transfer over high energy barriers. Among
various strategies for hot electron generation, Mn-mediated Auger
upconversion in Mn-doped semiconductor nanocrystals has emerged as
a particularly effective method. This process generates hot electrons
with large excess energies, a fraction of which can even exceed the
vacuum level, enabling their emission as free electrons into the vacuum
or their injection into surrounding liquid media to form reactive
solvated electrons. These unique properties of the upconverted hot
electrons open new pathways for driving thermodynamically and kinetically
demanding reactions in various liquid media. This Perspective discusses
recent advances in Mn-mediated hot electron upconversion, diverse
chemical transformations enabled by upconverted hot electrons, and
the important issues that need to be addressed to harness the full
potential of upconverted hot electron-driven photochemistry.