{
  "abstract": "Dilute plasmonic alloys offer a route to couple light harvesting with site-specific surface chemistry, but how host and dopant sites cooperate during multi-step hydrocarbon transformations remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that silica-supported CuPt single-atom alloys decouple the elementary steps of propane dehydroaromatization. The Cu host promotes visible light-assisted C-C coupling of C3 intermediates, but Cu remains inactive for direct alkane C-H activation. Introducing atomically dispersed Pt in Cu unlocks propane dehydrogenation and enables a parallel aromatization pathway to benzene under illumination. Isotopic labeling, wavelength- and power-dependent kinetics, catalyst comparisons, and theoretical modeling support a bifunctional mechanism in which Pt sites generate dehydrogenated C3 intermediates, the Cu host facilitates C-C coupling, and the Cu-Pt interface promotes cyclization. These results establish light-assisted single-atom/host cooperation as a design principle for plasmonic alkane upgrading.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Chemistry",
    "Northwestern University",
    "Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering",
    "Center for Catalysis and Surface Science, Northwestern University, 2145 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL, USA, 60208",
    "Center for Nanoscale Materials",
    "Argonne National Laboratory"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 14,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yicheng Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Moumita Kar"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Emma-Rose Newmeyer"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Zachary A. Long"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Minjung Kim"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Matthew Hershey"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yixuan Shi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Jamie D. North"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Guanyu Lu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Selim Alayoglu"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Gengnan Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Omar K Farha"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "George C. Schatz"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Dayne F. Swearer"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2e9pjhw91yqjr.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15010424/v1",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "2e9pjhw91yqjr",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010424/v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1503|Catalysis and Oxidation Reactions"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7221788039",
  "pdf_url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/pdf/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010424/v1",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-13",
  "publisher": "American Chemical Society (ACS)",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2e9pjhw91yqjr.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:17:24Z",
      "native_id": "10.26434/chemrxiv.15010424",
      "source": "chemrxiv",
      "url": "https://chemrxiv.org/doi/full/10.26434/chemrxiv.15010424/v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "chemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1503|Catalysis and Oxidation Reactions",
      "subfield": "catalysis"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Light-assisted bifunctionality in CuPt single-atom alloys for propane dehydroaromatization",
  "title_text": "Light-assisted bifunctionality in CuPt single-atom alloys for propane dehydroaromatization",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:17:24Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/2e9pjhw91yqjr",
  "venue": "ChemRxiv",
  "versions": []
}