Electron-Transfer Reactions between Aqueous Cobaltous and Cobaltic Ions1,2

Catalytic Oxygen Evolution by Cobalt Oxido Thin Films

The contemporary demand to generate fuels from solar energy has stimulated intense effort to develop water splitting catalysts that can be coupled to light-absorbing materials. Cobalt oxido catalyst (Co-OECs) films deposited from buffered Co(II) solutions have emerged as arguably the most studied class of heterogeneous oxygen evolution catalysts. The interest in these materials stems from their formation by self-assembly, their self-healing properties, and their promising catalytic activity under a variety of conditions. The structure and function of these catalysts are reviewed here together with studies of molecular Co-O cluster compounds, which have proven invaluable in elucidating the chemistry of the Co-OECs.

Structure and properties of the precursor/successor complex and transition state of the CrCl²⁺/Cr²⁺ electron self-exchange reaction via the inner-sphere pathway

The electron self-exchange reaction CrCl(OH2)5(2+) + Cr(OH2)6(2+) → Cr(OH2)6(2+) + CrCl(OH2)5(2+), proceeding via the inner-sphere pathway, was investigated with quantum-chemical methods. Geometry and vibrational frequencies of the precursor/successor (P/S) complex, (H2O)5Cr(III)ClCr(II)(OH2)5(4+)/(H2O)5Cr(II)ClCr(III)(OH2)5(4+), and the transition state (TS), (H2O)5CrClCr(OH2)5(4+‡), were computed with density functional theory (DFT) and conductor polarizable continuum model hydration. Consistent data were obtained solely with long-range-corrected functionals, whereby in this study, LC-BOP was used. Bent and linear structures were computed for the TS and P/S. The electronic coupling matrix element (H(ab)) and the reorganizational energy (λ) were calculated with multistate extended general multiconfiguration quasi-degenerate second-order perturbation theory. The nuclear tunneling factor (Γ(n)), the nuclear frequency factor (ν(n)), the electronic frequency factor (ν(el)), the electron transmission coefficient (κ(el)), and the first-order rate constant (k(et)) for the electron-transfer step (the conversion of the precursor complex into the successor complex) were calculated based on the imaginary frequency (ν(‡)) of the TS, the Gibbs activation energy (ΔG(‡)), H(ab), and λ. The formation of the precursor complex via water substitution at Cr(OH2)6(2+) was also investigated with DFT and found to be very fast. Thus, the electron-transfer step is rate-determining. For the substitution reaction, only a bent TS structure could be obtained. The overall rate constant (k) was estimated as the product K(A)k(et), whereby K(A) is the equilibrium constant for the formation of the ion aggregate of the reactants Cr(OH2)6(2+) and CrCl(OH2)5(2+), Cr(H2O)6·CrCl(OH2)5(4+) (IAR). k calculated for the bent and linear isomers agrees with the experimental value.

NMR study of ligand exchange and electron self-exchange between oxo-centered trinuclear clusters [Fe3(μ3-O)(μ-O2CR)6(4-R'py)3](+/0)

The syntheses, single crystal X-ray structures, and magnetic properties of the homometallic μ₃-oxo trinuclear clusters [Fe₃(μ₃-O)(μ-O₂CCH₃)₆(4-Phpy)₃](ClO₄) (1) and [Fe₃(μ₃-O)(μ-O₂CAd)₆(4-Mepy)₃](NO₃) (2) are reported (Ad = adamantane). The persistence of the trinuclear structure within 1 and 2 in CD₂Cl₂ and C₂D₂Cl₄ solutions in the temperature range 190-390 K is demonstrated by ¹H NMR. An equilibrium between the mixed pyridine clusters [Fe₃(μ₃-O)(μ-O₂CAd)₆(4-Mepy)(3-x)(4-Phpy)(x)](NO₃) (x = 0, 1, 2, 3) with a close to statistical distribution of these species is observed in CD₂Cl₂ solutions. Variable-temperature NMR line-broadening made it possible to quantify the coordinated/free 4-Rpy exchanges at the iron centers of 1 and 2: k(ex)²⁹⁸ = 6.5 ± 1.3 × 10⁻¹ s⁻¹, ΔH(‡) = 89.47 ± 2 kJ mol⁻¹, and ΔS(‡) = +51.8 ± 6 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ for 1 and k(ex)²⁹⁸ = 3.4 ± 0.5 × 10⁻¹ s⁻¹, ΔH(‡) = 91.13 ± 2 kJ mol⁻¹, and ΔS(‡) = +51.9 ± 5 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹ for 2. A limiting D mechanism is assigned for these ligand exchange reactions on the basis of first-order rate laws and positive and large entropies of activation. The exchange rates are 4 orders of magnitude slower than those observed for the ligand exchange on the reduced heterovalent cluster [Fe(III)₂Fe(II)(μ₃-O)(μ-O₂CCH₃)₆(4-Phpy)₃] (3). In 3, the intramolecular Fe(III)/Fe(II) electron exchange is too fast to be observed. At low temperatures, the 1/3 intermolecular second-order electron self-exchange reaction is faster than the 4-Phpy ligand exchange reactions on these two clusters, suggesting an outer-sphere mechanism: k₂²⁹⁸ = 72.4 ± 1.0 × 103 M⁻¹ s⁻¹, ΔH(‡) = 18.18 ± 0.3 kJ mol⁻¹, and ΔS(‡) = -90.88 ± 1.0 J K⁻¹ mol⁻¹. The [Fe₃(μ₃-O)(μ-O₂CCH₃)₆(4-Phpy)₃](+/0) electron self-exchange reaction is compared with the more than 3 orders of magnitude faster [Ru₃(μ₃-O)(μ-O₂CCH₃)₆(py)₃](+/0) self-exchange reaction (ΔΔG(exptl)(‡298) = 18.2 kJ mol⁻¹). The theoretical estimated self-exchange rate constants for both processes compare reasonably well with the experimental values. The equilibrium constant for the formation of the precursor to the electron-transfer and the free energy of activation contribution for the solvent reorganization to reach the electron transfer step are taken to be the same for both redox couples. The larger ΔG(exptl)(‡298) for the 1/3 iron self-exchange is attributed to the larger (11.1 kJ mol⁻¹) inner-sphere reorganization energy of the 1 and 3 iron clusters in addition to a supplementary energy (6.1 kJ mol⁻¹) which arises as a result of the fact that each encounter is not electron-transfer spin-allowed for the iron redox couple.

Contrasts in the 77 K Emission Spectra, Structures, and Dynamics of Metal-to-Metal and Metal-to-Ligand Charge-Transfer Excited States

The 77 K emission spectrum of trans-[(ms-Me6[14]aneN4)Cr(CNRu(NH3)5)2]5+ has components characteristic of ligand field (LF) and metal-to-metal charge transfer (MMCT) excited states (ms-Me6[14]aneN4=5,12-meso-5,7,7,12,14,14-hexamethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane). The LF component of the emission is best resolved for irradiations at appreciably higher energies than the MMCT absorption band, while only the MMCT emission is observed for irradiations on the low-energy side of the MMCT absorption band. The LF emission component from this complex has vibronic structure that is very similar to that of the trans-[(ms-Me6[14]aneN4)Cr(CN)2]+ parent, but it is red-shifted by 560 cm-1 and the bandwidths are much larger. The red shift and the larger bandwidths of the ruthenated complex are attributed to configurational mixing between the LF and MMCT excited states, and the inferred mixing parameters are shown to be consistent with the known electron-transfer properties of the Ru(NH3)5 moieties. The MMCT excited-state lifetime is about 1 micros at 77 K and am(m)ine perdeuteration of this complex leads to an isotope effect of kNH/kND approximately 15-20. However, the contribution of the N-H stretching vibration to the emission sideband is too weak for a single vibrational mode model to be consistent with the observed lifetimes or the isotope effect. These features are very similar to those reported previously (J. Phys. Chem. A 2004, 108, 5041) for the MMCT emission of trans-[([14]aneN4)Cr{CNRu(NH3)5}2]5+ ([14]aneN4=1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane), with the exception that the higher energy LF emission was not well resolved in the earlier work. The energies of the charge transfer absorption and emission maxima of both of these Cr(CN)Ru complexes are very similar to those of [Ru(NH3)4bpy]2+, but the latter has a 50-fold shorter 77 K excited-state lifetime, a 10-fold smaller NH/ND isotope effect, and a very different structure of its vibronic sidebands. Thus, the vibronic sidebands imply that the dominant excited-state distortions are in the metal-ligand vibrational modes for the Cr(CN)Ru complexes and in the bipyridine vibrational modes for the [Ru(NH3)4bpy]2+ complex. While an "equivalent" single vibrational mode model based on the frequencies and amplitudes of the dominant distortion modes is not consistent the observed lifetimes, such models do appear to be a good basis for qualitatively distinguishing different classes of excited-state dynamic behavior. A multimode, multichannel model may be necessary to adequately describe the excited-state dynamics of these simple electron-transfer systems.

Influence of the “Innocent” Ligands on the MLCT Excited-State Behavior of Mono(bipyridine)ruthenium(II) Complexes: A Comparison of X-ray Structures and 77 K Luminescence Properties

The variations in the nonchromophoric ligands of [Ru(L)4bpy]2+ complexes are shown to result in large changes in emission band shapes, even when the emission energies are similar. These changes in band shape are systematically examined by means of the generation of empirical reorganizational energy profiles (emreps) from the observed emission spectra (Xie, P.; et al. J. Phys. Chem. A 2005, 109, 4671), where these profiles provide convenient probes of the differences in distortions from the ground-state structures of the 2,2-bipyridine (bpy) ligands (for distortion modes near 1500 cm(-1)) in the metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) excited states for a series of complexes with the same ruthenium(II) bipyridine chromophore. The bpy ligand is nearly planar in the X-ray structures of the complexes with (L)4 = (NH3)4, triethylenetetraamine (trien), and 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane ([12]aneN4). However, for (L)4 = 5,12-rac-5,7,7,12,14,14-hexamethyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane, the X-ray crystal structure shows that the bpy ligand is twisted in the ground state (a result of methyl/bpy stereochemical repulsion) and the emrep amplitude at about 1500 cm(-1) is significantly larger for this structure than for the complex with (L)4 = 1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane, consistent with larger reorganizational energies of the bpy distortion modes in order to form a planar (bpy(-)) moiety in the excited state of the former. The trien and [12]aneN4 complexes have very nearly the same emission energies, yet the 40% smaller vibronic sideband intensity of the latter indicates that the MLCT excited state is significantly less distorted; this smaller distortion and the related shift in the distribution of distortion mode reorganizational energy amplitudes is apparently related to the 36-fold longer lifetime for (L)4 = [12]aneN4 than for (L)4 = trien. For the majority (77%) of the [Ru(L)4bpy]2+ complexes examined, there is a systematic decrease in emrep amplitudes near 1500 cm(-1), consistent with decreasing excited-state distortion, with the excited-state energy as is expected for ground state-excited state configurational mixing in a simple two-state model. However, the complexes with L = [12]aneN4, 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododeca-1-ene, and (py)4 all have smaller emrep amplitudes and thus less distorted excited states than related complexes with the same emission energy. The observations are not consistent with simple two-state models and seem to require an additional distortion induced by excited state-excited state configurational mixing in most complexes. Because the stereochemical constraints of the coordinated [12]aneN4 ligand restrict tetragonal distortions around the metal, configurational mixing of the 3MLCT excited state with a triplet ligand-field excited state of Ru(II) could account for some of the variations in excited-state distortion. The large number of vibrational distortion modes and their small vibrational reorganizational energies in these complexes indicate that a very large number of relaxation channels contribute to the variations in 3MLCT lifetimes and that the metal-ligand skeletal modes are likely to contribute to some of these channels.