Electron transfer product dissociation

This approach has been used to study the mechanism of a bond-breaking reaction following electron transfer (a dissociative electron transfer). Consider, for example, the case where species Z is an aryl halide, ArX, that becomes reduced by the electrogenerated re-ductant to yield the ultimate products Ar and X . This result can occur either by a concerted path, where bond cleavage occurs simultaneously with electron transfer, or by a stepwise path, where the radical anion, ArX", is an intermediate. Investigations of such reactions have been carried out by redox catalysis, and theoretical analysis of the structural and thermodynamic factors that affect the reaction path have been described (14, 41, 42). Similar considerations apply to oxidation reactions, such as of C20l to form two molecules of CO2. 

The study observed fliat the O2 adsorption energy for one-fold end-on was 0.43 eV and for two-fold was 0.94 eV. Two-fold bonded oxygen was more stable than one-fold. The dissociation energy for two-fold bonded O2 was 0.74 eV, while the activation barrier for the first reduction step to OOH was less than 0.60 eV at 1.23 V electrode potential. In other words, the first electron transfer has a smaller barrier than that of O2 dissociation. Furthermore, the dissociation barrier for the first electron transfer product OOH was much smaller, 0.06 eV. So, the authors eoncluded that O2 did not dissociate before the first reduction step, and OOH easily dissociated once formed after the first electron transfer step. The paper also demonstrated that the electronic field of the proton increased the electron affinity of the reactant complex and therefore facilitated the reaction. Thus, they proposed that for oxygen reduction on Pt in acid, proton transfer would be involved in the rate determining step because of the ability of its electric field to enhance the electron attracting capability of flic surface-coordinated O2. The authors concluded... 

Photopolymerization. In many cases polymerization is initiated by ittadiation of a sensitizer with ultraviolet or visible light. The excited state of the sensitizer may dissociate directiy to form active free radicals, or it may first undergo a bimoleculat electron-transfer reaction, the products of which initiate polymerization (14). TriphenylaLkylborate salts of polymethines such as (23) ate photoinitiators of free-radical polymerization. The sensitivity of these salts throughout the entire visible spectral region is the result of an intra-ion pair electron-transfer reaction (101). 

Inner-sphere. Here, the two reactants first form a bridged complex (precursor)- intramolecular electron transfer then yields the successor which in turn dissociates to give the products. The first demonstration of this was provided by H. Taube. He examined the oxidation of ICrfHoOijj by lCoCl(NHr)< and postulated that it occurs as follows ... 

These present an interesting dichotomy in their reductions by tm(l,10-phen-anthroline)iron(ri) (ferroin) °. That of CIO2 to CIOJ is rapid, is first-order in each component ki = 1.86 0.13 l.mole sec at 35 °C) and is independent of acidity. Ferriin is the immediate product and an outer sphere electron-transfer is proposed. The reduction of CIO2 is much slower, proceeding at the same rate as dissociation of ferroin at high chlorite concentrations and a major product is feriin dimer, possibly [(phen)2Fe-0-Fe(phen)2] . Clearly the reaction depends on ligand-displacement followed by an inner-sphere electron transfer. 

There is thus an apparent continuity between the kinetics of an electron transfer leading to a stable product and a dissociative electron transfer. The reason for this continuity is the use of a Morse curve to model the stretching of a bond in a stable product in the first case and the use of a Morse curve also to model a weak charge-dipole interaction in the second case. We will come back later to the distinction between stepwise and concerted mechanisms in the framework of this continuity of kinetic behavior. 

The half-order of the rate with respect to [02] and the two-term rate law were taken as evidence for a chain mechanism which involves one-electron transfer steps and proceeds via two different reaction paths. The formation of the dimer f(RS)2Cu(p-O2)Cu(RS)2] complex in the initiation phase is the core of the model, as asymmetric dissociation of this species produces two chain carriers. Earlier literature results were contested by rejecting the feasibility of a free-radical mechanism which would imply a redox shuttle between Cu(II) and Cu(I). It was assumed that the substrate remains bonded to the metal center throughout the whole process and the free thiyl radical, RS, does not form during the reaction. It was argued that if free RS radicals formed they would certainly be involved in an almost diffusion-controlled reaction with dioxygen, and the intermediate peroxo species would open alternative reaction paths to generate products other than cystine. This would clearly contradict the noted high selectivity of the autoxidation reaction. 

Comparison with the case of a purely repulsive product profile [equation (3.17)] vs. equations (3.3) and (3.4) reveals that the effect of an attractive interaction between the fragments in the product cluster is not merely described by the introduction of a work term in the classical theory of dissociative electron transfer. Such a work term appears under the form of —AG p, but there is also a modification of the intrinsic barrier. With the same Ap, the change in the intrinsic barrier would simply be obtained by replacement of Dr by /Dr — /D )2. It is noteworthy that small values of DP produce rather strong effects of the intrinsic barrier. For example, if DP is 4% of Dr, a decrease of 20% of the intrinsic barrier follows. The fact that a relatively small interaction leads to a substantial decrease of the activation barrier is depicted in Figure 3.4. 

The classical Morse curve model of intramolecular dissociative electron transfer, leading to equations (3.23) to (3.27), involves the following free energy surfaces for the reactant (Grx-) and product (Gr +x ) systems, respectively ... 

Since electrophilic and charge-transfer nitrations are both initiated via the same EDA complex and finally lead to the same array of nitration products, we infer that they share the intermediate stages in common. The strength of this inference rests on the variety of aromatic substrates (with widely differing reactivities and distinctive products) to establish the mechanistic criteria by which the identity of the two pathways are exhaustively tested. On this basis, electrophilic nitration is operationally equivalent to charge-transfer nitration in which electron-transfer activation is the obligatory first step. The extent to which the reactive triad in (90) is subject to intermolecu-lar interactions in the first interval (a few picoseconds) following electron transfer will, it is hoped, further define the mechanistic nuances of dissociative electron transfer in adiabatic and vertical systems (Shaik, 1991 Andrieux et al., 1992), especially when inner-sphere pathways are considered (Kochi, 1992). 

Whatever the explanation, the sensitivity of the remote pK to oxidation state of the Cu is of potential importance in relation to the functional role of plastocyanin. Plastocyanin and its physiological electron transport partner cytochrome f are believed to have complementary surfaces which lead to efficient interaction prior to electron transfer. As will be seen below there is substantial evidence for cytochrome f(II) (as reductant) reacting at the remote site of PCu(II). One problem which may be anticipated here is how dissociation of the product... 

Protons are in general indispensable for the dismutation of superoxide (Eq. (4)). Also in the case of its dismutation catalyzed by a metal center, two protons are needed for the dissociation of the product (H2O2) from the metal center (Scheme 9). Therefore, a complex which can accept two protons upon reduction and release them upon oxidation is an excellent candidate for SOD activity. The studies on proton-coupled electron transfer in Fe- and Mn-SODs 48), demonstrated that the active site of MnSOD consists of more than one proton acceptor (Scheme 10). Since the assignment of species involved in proton transfer is extremely difficult in the case of enzymatic systems, relevant investigations on adequate model complexes could be of vast importance. H2dapsox coordinates to Fe(II) in its neutral form, whereas in the case of Fe(III) it coordinates in the dapsox form. Thus, oxidation and reduction of its iron complex is a proton-coupled electron transfer process 46), which as an energetically favorable... 

The harmonic oscillator approximation used to describe the reactants and products in terms of internal reorganization is certainly not suited for describing the broken bond in the product system in the case of dissociative electron transfer. For reactions of the type (41) and (42), where RX does... 

---