Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2 to Acetic Acid by a Molecular Manganese Corrole Complex.

The controlled electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide to value added chemicals is an important strategy in terms of renewable energy technologies. Therefore, the development of efficient and stable catalysts in an aqueous environment is of great importance. In this context, we focused on synthesizing and studying a molecular MnIII -corrole complex, which is modified on the three meso-positions with polyethylene glycol moieties for direct and selective production of acetic acid from CO2 . Electrochemical reduction of MnIII leads to an electroactive MnII species, which binds CO2 and stabilizes the reduced intermediates. This catalyst allows to electrochemically reduce CO2 to acetic acid in a moderate acidic aqueous medium (pH 6) with a selectivity of 63 % and a turn over frequency (TOF) of 8.25 h-1 , when immobilized on a carbon paper (CP) electrode. In terms of high selectivity towards acetate, we propose the formation and reduction of an oxalate type intermediate, stabilized at the MnIII -corrole center.

Molecular cobalt corrole complex for the heterogeneous electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide.

Electrochemical conversion of CO2 to alcohols is one of the most challenging methods of conversion and storage of electrical energy in the form of high-energy fuels. The challenge lies in the catalyst design to enable its real-life implementation. Herein, we demonstrate the synthesis and characterization of a cobalt(III) triphenylphosphine corrole complex, which contains three polyethylene glycol residues attached at the meso-phenyl groups. Electron-donation and therefore reduction of the cobalt from cobalt(III) to cobalt(I) is accompanied by removal of the axial ligand, thus resulting in a square-planar cobalt(I) complex. The cobalt(I) as an electron-rich supernucleophilic d8-configurated metal centre, where two electrons occupy and fill up the antibonding dz2 orbital. This orbital possesses high affinity towards electrophiles, allowing for such electronically configurated metals reactions with carbon dioxide. Herein, we report the potential dependent heterogeneous electroreduction of CO2 to ethanol or methanol of an immobilized cobalt A3-corrole catalyst system. In moderately acidic aqueous medium (pH = 6.0), the cobalt corrole modified carbon paper electrode exhibits a Faradaic Efficiency (FE%) of 48 % towards ethanol production.

Synthesis and characterization of meso-substituted A2B corroles with extended π-electronic structure.

ABSTRACT: We report the chemical synthesis and characterization of the stable 5,15-bis(pentafluorophenyl)-10-(trimethylsilylethynyl)corrole which serves as a precursor for the subsequent in situ sila-Sonogashira-cross-coupling reaction and metalation with copper(II) acetate. Under ambient conditions and a common catalyst system the reaction with 1-iodopyrene occurred within five hours. Due to the direct conjugation of the 18π-electronic system of the corrole macrocycle over the alkynyl group to the pyrene moiety the optical transitions in the Soret (B-) band Q-band region are significantly altered. The copper corrole exhibited complex hyperfine and superhyperfine structure in the EPR spectrum. The assignment of the EPR spectrum reveals the existence of an axial [CuII-cor∙+] species.

CO2 Fixation with Epoxides under Mild Conditions with a Cooperative Metal Corrole/Quaternary Ammonium Salt Catalyst System.

The cooperative catalytic activity of several metal corrole complexes in combination with tetrabutyl-ammonium bromide (TBAB) has been investigated for the reaction of epoxides with CO2 leading to cyclic carbonates. It was found that the use of just 0.05 mol % of a manganese(III)corrole with 2 mol % TBAB exhibits excellent catalytic activity under an atmosphere of CO2 .

On-Surface Site-Selective Cyclization of Corrole Radicals.

Radical cyclization is among the most powerful and versatile reactions for constructing mono- and polycyclic systems, but has, to date, remained unexplored in the context of on-surface synthesis. We report the controlled on-surface synthesis of stable corrole radicals on Ag(111) via site-specific dehydrogenation of a pyrrole N-H bond in the 5,10,15-tris(pentafluoro-phenyl)-corrole triggered by annealing at 330 K under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions. We reveal a thermally induced regioselective cyclization reaction mediated by a radical cascade and resolve the reaction mechanism of the pertaining cyclodefluorination reaction at the single-molecule level. Via intramolecularly resolved probing of the radical-related Kondo signature, we achieve real space visualization of the distribution of the unpaired electron density over specific sites within the corrole radical. Annealing to 550 K initiates intermolecular coupling reactions, producing an extended π-conjugated corrole system.