A high-spin iron(IV)-oxo complex supported by a trigonal nonheme pyrrolide platform.

We report the generation and characterization of a new high-spin iron(IV)-oxo complex supported by a trigonal nonheme pyrrolide platform. Oxygen-atom transfer to [(tpa(Mes))Fe(II)](-) (tpa(Ar) = tris(5-arylpyrrol-2-ylmethyl)amine) in acetonitrile solution affords the Fe(III)-alkoxide product [(tpa(Mes2MesO))Fe(III)](-) resulting from intramolecular C-H oxidation with no observable ferryl intermediates. In contrast, treatment of the phenyl derivative [(tpa(Ph))Fe(II)](-) with trimethylamine N-oxide in acetonitrile solution produces the iron(IV)-oxo complex [(tpa(Ph))Fe(IV)(O)](-) that has been characterized by a suite of techniques, including mass spectrometry as well as UV-vis, FTIR, Mössbauer, XAS, and parallel-mode EPR spectroscopies. Mass spectral, FTIR, and optical absorption studies provide signatures for the iron-oxo chromophore, and Mössbauer and XAS measurements establish the presence of an Fe(IV) center. Moreover, the Fe(IV)-oxo species gives parallel-mode EPR features indicative of a high-spin, S = 2 system. Preliminary reactivity studies show that the high-spin ferryl tpa(Ph) complex is capable of mediating intermolecular C-H oxidation as well as oxygen-atom transfer chemistry.

Molecular cobalt pentapyridine catalysts for generating hydrogen from water.

A set of robust molecular cobalt catalysts for the generation of hydrogen from water is reported. The cobalt complex supported by the parent pentadentate polypyridyl ligand PY5Me(2) features high stability and activity and 100% Faradaic efficiency for the electrocatalytic production of hydrogen from neutral water, with a turnover number reaching 5.5 × 10(4) mol of H(2) per mole of catalyst with no loss in activity over 60 h. Control experiments establish that simple Co(II) salts, the free PY5Me(2) ligand, and an isostructural PY5Me(2) complex containing redox-inactive Zn(II) are all ineffective for this reaction. Further experiments demonstrate that the overpotential for H(2) evolution can be tuned by systematic substitutions on the ancillary PY5Me(2) scaffold, presaging opportunities to further optimize this first-generation platform by molecular design.

Selective binding of O2 over N2 in a redox-active metal-organic framework with open iron(II) coordination sites.

The air-free reaction between FeCl(2) and H(4)dobdc (dobdc(4-) = 2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzenedicarboxylate) in a mixture of N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and methanol affords Fe(2)(dobdc)·4DMF, a metal-organic framework adopting the MOF-74 (or CPO-27) structure type. The desolvated form of this material displays a Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area of 1360 m(2)/g and features a hexagonal array of one-dimensional channels lined with coordinatively unsaturated Fe(II) centers. Gas adsorption isotherms at 298 K indicate that Fe(2)(dobdc) binds O(2) preferentially over N(2), with an irreversible capacity of 9.3 wt %, corresponding to the adsorption of one O(2) molecule per two iron centers. Remarkably, at 211 K, O(2) uptake is fully reversible and the capacity increases to 18.2 wt %, corresponding to the adsorption of one O(2) molecule per iron center. Mössbauer and infrared spectra are consistent with partial charge transfer from iron(II) to O(2) at low temperature and complete charge transfer to form iron(III) and O(2)(2-) at room temperature. The results of Rietveld analyses of powder neutron diffraction data (4 K) confirm this interpretation, revealing O(2) bound to iron in a symmetric side-on mode with d(O-O) = 1.25(1) Å at low temperature and in a slipped side-on mode with d(O-O) = 1.6(1) Å when oxidized at room temperature. Application of ideal adsorbed solution theory in simulating breakthrough curves shows Fe(2)(dobdc) to be a promising material for the separation of O(2) from air at temperatures well above those currently employed in industrial settings.

Electrocatalytic reduction of protons to hydrogen by a water-compatible cobalt polypyridyl platform.

A cobalt(ii) complex supported by the new tetradentate polypyridyl ligand PY4 is an electrocatalyst for the reduction of protons to hydrogen and can operate in 50% aqueous media.

Six-coordinate titanium complexes of a tripodal aminetris(phenoxide) ligand: synthesis, structure, and dynamics.

The five-coordinate titanium(IV) alkoxide LTi(O(t)Bu) (LH(3) = tris(2-hydroxy-3,5-di-tert-butylbenzyl)amine) is protonolyzed readily by the conjugate acids of monoanionic bidentate ligands, both symmetrical (tropolone, acetylacetone, di-p-toluoylmethane) and unsymmetrical (8-hydroxyquinoline, salicylaldehyde, 2,6-diformyl-p-cresol, anthrarufin). The geometry of these complexes, which is pseudo-octahedral with the tripodal ligand adopting a chiral, propeller-like conformation, has been confirmed in four cases by X-ray crystallography. Variable-temperature NMR spectroscopy indicates that the six-coordinate complexes undergo two dynamic processes. First, the ligands undergo a twisting motion that results in racemization, a process which is over 10(4) times faster than in five-coordinate complexes. The rate acceleration upon binding of an equatorial ligand is ascribed to steric repulsions with one of the cis phenoxides; the dynamics of a binuclear dibenzyl phosphate-bridged compound, which has a unique conformation of the tripodal ligand, indicates that flexing the cis phenoxide is the rate-limiting step in racemization. Second, the complexes undergo a process that interchanges the inequivalent arms of the tripodal ligand. This process involves a trigonal twist that shifts the bidentate ligand between clefts in the tripod. The intermediate geometry in the reaction appears to be a transition state and not a long-lived intermediate, as judged from the relative rates of interconversion of tripod arms and chelate ends in the ditoluoylmethane complex. Tripod arm interchange takes place without partial dissociation of the bidentate chelate, a reaction that has been observed on a slower time scale in one case.