Electrocatalysts porphyrins

Of special Interest as O2 reduction electrocatalysts are the transition metal macrocycles In the form of layers adsorptlvely attached, chemically bonded or simply physically deposited on an electrode substrate Some of these complexes catalyze the 4-electron reduction of O2 to H2O or 0H while others catalyze principally the 2-electron reduction to the peroxide and/or the peroxide elimination reactions. Various situ spectroscopic techniques have been used to examine the state of these transition metal macrocycle layers on carbon, graphite and metal substrates under various electrochemical conditions. These techniques have Included (a) visible reflectance spectroscopy (b) laser Raman spectroscopy, utilizing surface enhanced Raman scattering and resonant Raman and (c) Mossbauer spectroscopy. This paper will focus on principally the cobalt and Iron phthalocyanlnes and porphyrins. 

The simple porphyrin category includes macrocycles that are accessible synthetically in one or few steps and are often available commercially. In such metallopor-phyrins, one or both axial coordinahon sites of the metal are occupied by ligands whose identity is often unknown and cannot be controlled, which complicates mechanistic interpretation of the electrocatalytic results. Metal complexes of simple porphyrins and porphyrinoids (phthalocyanines, corroles, etc.) have been studied extensively as electrocatalysts for the ORR since the inihal report by Jasinsky on catalysis of O2 reduction in 25% KOH by Co phthalocyanine [Jasinsky, 1964]. Complexes of all hrst-row transition metals and many from the second and third rows have been examined for ORR catalysis. Of aU simple metalloporphyrins, Ir(OEP) (OEP = octaethylporphyrin Fig. 18.9) appears to be the best catalyst, but it has been little studied and its catalytic behavior appears to be quite distinct from that other metaUoporphyrins [CoUman et al., 1994]. Among the first-row transition metals, Fe and Co porphyrins appear to be most active, followed by Mn [Deronzier and Moutet, 2003] and Cr. Because of the importance of hemes in aerobic metabolism, the mechanism of ORR catalysis by Fe porphyrins is probably understood best among all metalloporphyrin catalysts. 

The prevalence of the heme in O2 metabolism and the discovery in the 1960s that metallophthalocyanines adsorbed on graphite catalyze four-electron reduction of O2 have prompted intense interest in metaUoporphyrins as molecular electrocatalysts for the ORR. The technological motivation behind this work is the desire for a Pt-ffee cathodic catalyst for low temperature fuel cells. To date, three types of metaUoporphyrins have attracted most attention (i) simple porphyrins that are accessible within one or two steps and are typically available commercially (ii) cofacial porphyrins in which two porphyrin macrocycles are confined in an approximately stacked (face-to-face) geometry and (iii) biomimetic catalysts, which are highly elaborate porphyrins designed to reproduce the stereoelectronic properties of the 02-reducing site of cytochrome oxidase. 

Aiaki K, Toma HE. 2006. Supramolecular porphyrins as electrocatalysts. In Zagal JH, Bedioui F, Dodelet J-P, editors. N4-Macrocyclic Metal Complexes. New York Springer, p. 255. 

Shi C, Mak KW, Chan K-S, Anson EC. 1995. Enhancement by surfactants of the activity and stability of iridium octaethyl porphyrin as an electrocatalyst for the four-electron reduction of dioxygen. J Electioanal Chem 397 321. 

Song E, Shi C, Anson EC. 1998. Comparison of the behavior of several cobalt porphyrins as electrocatalysts for the reduction of O2 at graphite electrodes. Langmuir 14 4315. 

A number of metal porphyrins have been examined as electrocatalysts for H20 reduction to H2. Cobalt complexes of water soluble masri-tetrakis(7V-methylpyridinium-4-yl)porphyrin chloride, meso-tetrakis(4-pyridyl)porphyrin, and mam-tetrakis(A,A,A-trimethylamlinium-4-yl)porphyrin chloride have been shown to catalyze H2 production via controlled potential electrolysis at relatively low overpotential (—0.95 V vs. SCE at Hg pool in 0.1 M in fluoroacetic acid), with nearly 100% current efficiency.12 Since the electrode kinetics appeared to be dominated by porphyrin adsorption at the electrode surface, H2-evolution catalysts have been examined at Co-porphyrin films on electrode surfaces.13,14 These catalytic systems appeared to be limited by slow electron transfer or poor stability.13 However, CoTPP incorporated into a Nafion membrane coated on a Pt electrode shows high activity for H2 production, and the catalysis takes place at the theoretical potential of H+/H2.14... 

Studies on the electrocatalytic activity of metal porphyrins are limited in comparison with those on other classes of macrocyclic metal complex. Among the few porphyrin complexes tested, cobalt porphyrins have been demonstrated to be efficient electrocatalysts for the reduction of C02 to CO... 

Water soluble iron porphyrins [Fem(TPPS)(H20) ]3-330 and [Fem(TMPy)(H20)2]5+ 331 332 (TPPS = maso-tetrakis(/ -sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin, TMPyP = / /e.vo-tetrakis(7V-methyl-4-pyridi-nium)porphyrin331 or maso-tetrakis (A -methyl-2-pyridinium)porphyrin332 dications) act as effective electrocatalysts for the reduction of nitrite to ammonia in aqueous electrolytes (Equation (64) Ei/2= 0.103 V vs. SCE at pH 7), with NH2OH or N20 also appearing as products depending on the reaction conditions. Nitric oxide then ligates to the iron(III) porphyrin to form a nitrosyl complex [Fen(P)(NO+)] (P = porphyrin) as intermediate. 

It has been recently demonstrated that the simplest of the cobalt porphyrins (Co porphine) adsorbed on a pyrolytic graphite electrode is also an efficient electrocatalyst for reduction of 02 into 1120.376 The catalytic activity was attributed to the spontaneous aggregation of the complex on the electrode surface to produce a structure in which the cobalt-cobalt separation is small enough to bridge and activate 02 molecules. The stability of the catalyst is quite poor and largely improved by using porphyrin rings with mew-substitu-tion.377-380 Flowever, as the size of the mew-substituents increases the four-electron reduction efficiency decreases. 

A similar catalytic activity with a monomeric porphyrin of iridium has been observed when adsorbed on a graphite electrode.381-383 It is believed that the active catalyst on the surface is a dimeric species formed by electrochemical oxidation at the beginning of the cathodic scan, since cofacial bisporphyrins of iridium are known to be efficient electrocatalysts for the tetraelectronic reduction of 02. In addition, some polymeric porphyrin coatings on electrode surfaces have been also reported to be active electroactive catalysts for H20 production, especially with adequately thick films or with a polypyrrole matrix.384-387... 

The organometallic complexes with d-metals are considered as promising electrocatalysts for oxygen electroreduction in air-metal electrochemical cells. Obviously, the first idea was to employ the catalytic mechanism of the oxygen reduction with porphyrin-like metal complexes [1] found in living beings (Figure 1). 

N. Diab, J. Oni, A. Schulte, I. Radtke, A. Blochl, and W. Schuhmann, Pyrrole functionalised metallo-porphyrins as electrocatalysts for the oxidation of nitric oxide. Talanta 61, 43-51 (2003). 

Transition metal compounds, such as organic macrocycles, are known to be good electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction. Furthermore, they are inactive for alcohol oxidation. Different phthalocyanines and porphyrins of iron and cobalt were thus dispersed in an electron-conducting polymer (polyaniline, polypyrrole) acting as a conducting matrix, either in the form of a tetrasulfonated counter anion or linked to... 

One such reaction that has been studied is the electrocatalytic reduction of oxygen directly to water.25,27 The electrocatalysts for this process are often based on metal porphyrins and phthalo-cyanins. Thus a graphite electrode whose surface was modified by the irreversible adsorption of a cofacial dicobalt porphyrin dimer was able to reduce oxygen under conditions where the reduction did not occur on the bare electrode itself. Similarly, a catalytic chemically modified electrode for the oxidation of chloride to chlorine has been prepared28 where the active catalyst was reported to be a ruthenium dimer, [(bipy)2(OH)RulvORuvO(bipy)2]4+, which was reduced to the corresponding [Rum-RuIV] dimer during the reaction. 

In summary, the electrochemical results indicate that the alkyl-metal bond-formation free energies range from 54 to 146 kJ mol-1 for iron porphyrins and from 84 to 159 kJ mol-1 for cobalt porphyrins. The maximum bond energies are for primary alkyl groups bonded to [(MeO)4TPP]Con and (OEP)Fen porphyrins. The porphyrin dianions [(porT)nFe and (porr)nCo ] facilitate the reduction of C02 to CO via the transient formation of a metal-carbon bond [(por7)M—C(0)0- — AGBF > 50 kJ mol-1 for iron porphyrins]. Thus, iron and cobalt porphyrins are especially effective electrocatalysts for the reduction of C02 ... 

The phosphoric acid cell has been under research for a longer time than that of any other kind of fuel cell. Alloys of Pt with Cr, V, and Ti and other non-noble metals are better than Pt (Appleby, 1986). The particle size of the catalyst has been reduced to that of tens of atoms (Stonehart, 1993).10 Much attention has been given to the search for non-noble (hence cheaper) catalysts that are stable in hot acids. The best are the porphyrins, the formulas for which are shown in Fig. 13.20. They are applied to a base of graphite. These electrocatalysts are more effective in alkaline fuel cells than in those with acid electrolytes. Curiously, these substances are more stable and give better catalysis after pyrolysis in He at 800 °C, a process that would decompose the organic part of the structure. Perhaps the only active part of the porphyrin catalyst is the central... 

Electrochemical NO sensors based on platinized or electrocatalyst-modified electrodes often in combination with a permselective and charged membrane for interference elimination were proposed. Although the catalytic mechanism is still unknown, it can be assumed that NO is co or dinative ly bound to the metal center of porphyrin or phthalocyanine moieties immobilized at the electrode surface. The coordinative binding obviously stabilizes the transition state for NO oxidation under formation of NO+. Typically, sub-pM concentrations of NO can be quantified using NO sensors enabling the detection of NO release from individual cells. 

Gojkovic, S.L., Gupta, S., and Savinell, R.F., Heat-treated iron(lll) tetramethoxyphe-nyl porphyrin chloride supported on high-area carbon as an electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction, Electrochim. Acta, 45, 889, 1999. 

With these preliminary theoretical results in mind, a set of three Co-based porphyrin electrocatalysts (from CoTMPP precursors pyrolized at 600, 700, and 800°C) were examined in situ (room temperature de-aerated IM TFMSA) at beamline X-llA at the NSLS. Standard EXAFS analysis was of limited use in determining the stmctural parameters due to the disordered nature of... 

Electrochemical data indicate that self-assembled monolayers of 5 and 6 catalyze the two-electron reduction of O2 to H2O2. The monolayer from 6 is a more effective electrocatalyst for the reduction of O2 than that from 5 [300]. The different reactivity results from different interfacial architecture this is confirmed by infrared, X-ray photoelectron, and visible spectroscopic measurements [300] which revealed coplanar, inclined t -7z stacking of the porphyrin ring in the monolayer of 5 and head-to-tail orientation of the porphyrin ring in the monolayer of 6. Treatment of the monolayer of 8 with Co(OAc)2 in methanol resulted in electrocatalytic activity in the reduction of O2 [300]. In contrast, a monolayer of 7 treated similarly failed to catalyze dioxygen reduction [300], although treatment of a mixed monolayer of 7 and CH3(CH2)3SH with Co(OAc)2 results in electrocatalytic activity similar to that of 6. 

For molecular electrocatalysts otherwise, and especially transition metal macrocycles, the electrocatalytic activity is often modified by subtle structural and electronic factors spanning the entire mechanistic spectrum, that is, from strict four-electron reduction, as for the much publicized cofacial di-cobalt porphyrin, in which the distance between the Co centers was set at about 4 A [12], to strict two-electron reduction, as in the monomeric (single ring) Co(II) 4,4, 4",4" -tetrasulfophthalo-cyanine (CoTsPc) [20] and Co(II) 5,10,15,20-tetraphenyl porphyrin (CoTPP) [21]. Not surprisingly, nature has evolved highly specific enzymes for oxygen transport, oxygen reduction to water, superoxide dismutation and peroxide decomposition. 

This section describes various strategies for the immobilization of macrocycles on electrode surfaces and their characterization by both electrochemical and in situ spectroscopic techniques in solutions devoid of dioxygen. It also provides theoretical foundations involved in the analysis of the mechanisms of oxygen reduction at such interfaces based on measurements performed under forced convection. Studies involving a number of carefully selected phthalocyanines, and porphyrins, will be presented and discussed, which in our view best illustrate the nuances of the rich behavior this class of adsorbed electrocatalysts can exhibit. These examples serve to... 

Systematic studies of the role of such factors as the nature of the metal center and the detailed structure of the chelating ring, particularly its peripheral functionalization, can afford valuable information toward unveiling structure-activity relationships for macrocycles as electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction. The following sub-sections describe some of the most salient aspects of a selected number of transition metal phthalocyanines and porphyrins, including the effects of redox and non-redox active substituents on the properties of Co porphyrins. 

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