Testing functional anchor groups for the efficient immobilization of molecular catalysts on silver surfaces.

Modifications of complexes by attachment of anchor groups are widely used to control molecule-surface interactions. This is of importance for the fabrication of (catalytically active) hybrid systems, viz. of surface immobilized molecular catalysts. In this study, the complex fac-Re(S-Sbpy)(CO)3Cl (S-Sbpy = 3,3'-disulfide-2,2'-bipyridine), a sulfurated derivative of the prominent Re(bpy)(CO)3Cl class of CO2 reduction catalysts, was deposited onto the clean Ag(001) surface at room temperature. The complex is thermostable upon sublimation as supported by infrared absorption and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Its anchoring process has been analyzed using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The growth behavior was directly contrasted to the one of the parent complex fac-Re(bpy)(CO)3Cl (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine). The sulfurated complex nucleates as single molecule at different surface sites and at molecule clusters. In contrast, for the parent complex nucleation only occurs in clusters of several molecules at specifically oriented surface steps. While this shows that surface immobilization of the sulfurated complex is more efficient as compared to the parent, symmetry analysis of the STM topographic data supported by DFT calculations indicates that more than 90% of the complexes adsorb in a geometric configuration very similar to the one of the parent complex.

Making and breaking of chemical bonds in single nanoconfined molecules.

Nanoconfinement of catalytically active molecules is a powerful strategy to control their chemical activity; however, the atomic-scale mechanisms are challenging to identify. In the present study, the site-specific reactivity of a model rhenium catalyst is studied on the subnanometer scale for complexes confined within quasi-one-dimensional molecular chains on the Ag(001) surface by scanning tunneling microscopy. Injection of tunneling electrons causes ligand dissociation in single molecules. Unexpectedly, while half of the complexes show only the dissociation, the confined molecules show also the reverse reaction. On the basis of density functional theory calculations, this drastic difference can be attributed to the limited space in confinement. That is, the split-off ligand adsorbs closer to the molecule and the dissociation causes less structural disruption. Both of these facilitate the reverse reaction. We demonstrate formation and disruption of single chemical bonds of nanoconfined molecules with potential application in molecular data storage.

Neutral Formazan Ligands Bound to the fac-(CO)3Re(I) Fragment: Structural, Spectroscopic, and Computational Studies.

Metal complexes with ligands that coordinate via the nitrogen atom of azo (N═N) or imino (C═N) groups are of interest due to their π-acceptor properties and redox-active nature, which leads to interesting (opto)electronic properties and reactivity. Here, we describe the synthesis and characterization of rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complexes with neutral N,N-bidentate formazans, which possess both N═N and C═N fragments within the ligand backbone (Ar1-NH-N═C(R3)-N═N-Ar5). The compounds were synthesized by reacting equimolar amounts of [ReBr(CO)5] and the corresponding neutral formazan. X-ray crystallographic and spectroscopic (IR, NMR) characterization confirmed the generation of formazan-type species with the structure fac-[ReBr(CO)3(κ2-N2,N4(Ar1-N1H-N2═C(R3)-N3═N4-Ar5))]. The formazan ligand coordinates the metal center in the 'open' form, generating a five-membered chelate ring with a pendant NH arm. The electronic absorption and emission properties of these complexes are governed by the presence of low-lying π*-orbitals on the ligand as shown by DFT calculations. The high orbital mixing between the metal and ligand results in photophysical properties that contrast to those observed in fac-[ReBr(CO)3(L,L)] species with α-diimine ligands.

Ordering a rhenium catalyst on Ag(001) through molecule-surface step interaction.

Atomic scale studies of the anchoring of catalytically active complexes to surfaces may provide valuable insights for the design of new catalytically active hybrid systems. In this work, the self-assembly of 1D, 2D and 3D structures of the complex fac-Re(bpy)(CO)3Cl (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine), a CO2 reduction catalyst, on the Ag(001) surface are studied by a combination of low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory calculations. Infrared and sum frequency generation spectroscopy confirm that the complex remains chemically intact under sublimation. Deposition of the complexes onto the silver surface at 300 K leads to strong local variations in the resulting surface coverage on the nanometer scale, indicating that in the initial phase of deposition a large fraction of the molecules is desorbing from the surface. Low coverage regions show a decoration of step edges aligned along the crystal's symmetry axes <110>. These crystallographic directions are found to be of major importance to the binding of the complexes to the surface. Moreover, the interaction between the molecules and the substrate promotes the restructuring of surface steps along these directions. Well-aligned and decorated steps are found to act as nucleation point for monolayer growth (2D) before 3D growth starts.

A Bioinspired Disulfide/Dithiol Redox Switch in a Rhenium Complex as Proton, H Atom, and Hydride Transfer Reagent.

The transfer of multiple electrons and protons is of crucial importance in many reactions relevant in biology and chemistry. Natural redox-active cofactors are capable of storing and releasing electrons and protons under relatively mild conditions and thus serve as blueprints for synthetic proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) reagents. Inspired by the prominence of the 2e-/2H+ disulfide/dithiol couple in biology, we investigate herein the diverse PCET reactivity of a Re complex equipped with a bipyridine ligand featuring a unique SH···-S moiety in the backbone. The disulfide bond in fac-[Re(S-Sbpy)(CO)3Cl] (1, S-Sbpy = [1,2]dithiino[4,3-b:5,6-b']dipyridine) undergoes two successive reductions at equal potentials of -1.16 V vs Fc+|0 at room temperature forming [Re(S2bpy)(CO)3Cl]2- (12-, S2bpy = [2,2'-bipyridine]-3,3'-bis(thiolate)). 12- has two adjacent thiolate functions at the bpy periphery, which can be protonated forming the S-H···-S unit, 1H-. The disulfide/dithiol switch exhibits a rich PCET reactivity and can release a proton (ΔG°H+ = 34 kcal mol-1, pKa = 24.7), an H atom (ΔG°H• = 59 kcal mol-1), or a hydride ion (ΔG°H- = 60 kcal mol-1) as demonstrated in the reactivity with various organic test substrates.

A Stable Homoleptic Divinyl Tetrelene Series.

The synthesis of the new bulky vinyllithium reagent (Me IPr=CH)Li, (Me IPr=[(MeCNDipp)2 C]; Dipp=2,6-iPr2 C6 H3 ) is reported. This vinyllithium precursor was found to act as a general source of the anionic 2σ, 2π-electron donor ligand [Me IPr=CH]- . Furthermore, a high-yielding route to the degradation-resistant SiII precursor Me IPr⋅SiBr2 is presented. The efficacy of (Me IPr=CH)Li in synthesis was demonstrated by the generation of a complete inorganic divinyltetrelene series (Me IPrCH)2 E: (E=Si to Pb). (Me IPrCH)2 Si: represents the first two-coordinate acyclic silylene not bound by heteroatom donors, with dual electrophilic and nucleophilic character at the SiII center noted. Cyclic voltammetry shows this electron-rich silylene to be a potent reducing agent, rivalling the reducing power of the 19-electron complex cobaltocene (Cp2 Co).

A dinuclear rhenium complex in the electrochemically driven homogeneous and heterogeneous H+/CO2-reduction.

A dinculear Re(CO)3 complex with a proton responsive phenol unit and a pyrene anchor in the ligand backbone was investigated in the electrochemical CO2/H+ conversion in solution and adsorbed on multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) on an GC electrode surface. The pyrene group unit is introduced at the end of the ligand synthesis via a coupling reaction, which allows for a versatile ligand modification in order to tune the electronic properties or to introduce various anchor groups for heterogenisation at a late stage. The redox chemistry of the pyrene-α-diimine-Re(CO)3 complex, 1, was investigated in N,N-dimethylformamide (dmf), including IR-spectroelectrochemical (IR-SEC) characterisation of the short lived, reduced species. Subsequently, the electrochemical H+/CO2-reduction catalysis in dmf/water was investigated. The complex catalyses syngas formation yielding CO and H2 with similar rates, namely in Faraday yields of 45% and 35%, respectively. Since the similar complex without the pyrene anchor in the backbone, I, prefers CO2 over H+ reduction, the formation of syngas was rationalised by the small differences in the redox properties and pKa values of the phenol-pyrene unit in regard to phenol unit as in I. Subsequently, the complex was adsorbed on multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) on a GC electrode surface. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed coating of the electrode. The immobilised complex was utilised in the electrochemical CO2/H+ reduction in dmf/water, however, the complex quickly desorbed under reductive conditions, likely due to the good solubility of the reduced species. Water as a solvent prevents desorption as confirmed by XPS, however, then a preference for H2 formation over syngas formation was observed under electrocatalytic conditions. Thus, these experiments show, that the results obtained in aqueous organic solution are not easily transferable to the heterogeneous systems operating in water due to changes in the reaction rates for competing pathways.

Evidence for a Single Electron Shift in a Lewis Acid-Base Reaction.

The Lewis acid-base reaction between a nucleophilic hafnocene-based germylene and tris-pentafluorophenylborane (B(C6F5)3) to give the conventional B-Ge bonded species in almost quantitative yield is reported. This reaction is surprisingly slow, and during its course, radical intermediates are detected by EPR and UV-vis spectroscopy. This suggests that the reaction is initiated by a single electron-transfer step. The hereby-involved germanium radical cation was independently synthesized by oxidation of the germylene by the trityl cation or strong silyl-Lewis acids. A perfluorinated tetraarylborate salt of the radical cation was fully characterized including an XRD analysis. Its structural features and the results of DFT calculations indicate that the radical cation is a hafnium(III)-centered radical that is formed by a redox-induced electron transfer (RIET) from the ligand to the hafnium atom. This valence isomerization slows down the coupling of the radicals to form the polar Lewis acid-base product. The implications of this observation are briefly discussed in light of the recent finding that radical pairs are formed in frustrated Lewis pairs.