Proton-assisted electron transfer

The toluene-soluble fraction consists of a major product that has been identified as a CgQ-TEA monocycloadduct 7V-ethyl-rra/w-2, 5 -dimethyl-pyrrol-idino[3, 4 l,2][60]fullerene (14) by use of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectroscopy and NMR methods [71]. It is interesting that the photochemical reaction actually results in the formation of a cycloadduct. This is unique to the fuilerene system because there have been no reports of cycloadducts in reactions involving nonfullerene acceptors [119-122], such as rra/is-stilbene. In the context of the classical photoinduced electron transfer-proton transfer mechanism [124], a two-step process for the formation of the cycloadduct has been proposed [71]. 

There has been nothing like the enthusiasm for the application to these systems of the theoretical equations, which we have noted in the previous sections and will encounter in the next. Nevertheless, a number of features are present which are qualitatively consistent with the discussions in Sec. 5.8.1 and which are in part illustrated in Table 5.11. There is a correlation of rate constant with the driving force of the internal electron transfer. -pjjg p. itro-phenyl derivative is a poorer reducing agent when protonated and k is much less than for the unprotonated derivative. Consequently disproportionation (2A 3) becomes important. Although there are not marked effects of structural variation on the values of A , the associated activation parameters may differ enormously and this is ascribed to the operation of different mechanisms."" The resonance-assisted through-chain operates with the p-... 

While donor substituents assist in ortho and meta protonation, acceptor substituents direct protonation of the primary anion-radicals to the ipso and para positions. It should be emphasized that water treatment of the naphthalene anion-radical in THF leads to 1,4-dihydronaphthalene. Notably, the same treatment of this anion-radical, but o-bound to rhodium, leads to strikingly different results. In the rhodium-naphthalene compound, an unpaired electron is localized in the naphthalene, but no protonation of the naphthalene part takes places on addition of water. Only evolution of hydrogen was observed (Freeh et al. 2006). Being a-bound to rhodium, naphthalene acts as an electron reservoir. The naphthalene anion-radical part reacts with a proton according to the electron-transfer scheme similar to the anion-radicals of aromatic nitro compounds (see Scheme 1.14). 

Only one electron is transferred to the MoFe-protein in each catalytic cycle of the Fe-protein. Thus, the cycle must be repeated eight times to accomplish the reduction of N2 + 2 H+. Where in the MoFe-protein does a transferred electron go EPR spectroscopic and other experiments with incomplete and catalyti-cally inactive molybdenum coenzyme40 have provided a clear answer. The electron is transferred first to one of the two P-clusters, both of which are close to the Fe4S4 cluster of the Fe-protein. The transfer causes an observable change both in the spectroscopic properties and in the three-dimensional structure of the P-cluster.23/40a Since protons are needed at the active site for the reduction reactions (the FeMo-coenzyme), it is probable that hydrolysis of ATP in the Fe-protein is accompanied by transport of protons across the interface with the MoFe-protein. Tire electron transfer from the P-cluster on to the FeMo-co center would be assisted by a protic force resulting from ATP cleavage. 

Based on these results of model electron and energy transfer reactions MPT must produce superoxide by both direct (Equation 23), as well as proton assisted transfer (Equation 24). 

The 1,4-photoaddition of aliphatic amines with benzene via photoinduced electron transfer was first reported by Bryce-Smith more than 30 years ago [375-378], In the photoreaction of triethylamine with benzene, the proton transfer from the radical cation of triethylamine to the radical anion of benzene is proposed as a probable pathway (Scheme 113). In the case of tertiary amines, the photoaddition is accelerated by the addition of methanol or acetic acid as a proton source. Similar photoaddition of diethyl ether to benzene takes place assisted by trifluoroacetic acid, where methanol is not affective [379], In these photoreactions, a-hydrogen next to the heteroatom moves to the radical anion of benzene as a proton, followed by radical ccoupling to give 1,4-addition products. Similar photoaddition of amines to the benzene ring has been reported by Ohashi et al. [380,381],... 

When covalently attached to electron transfer active subunits, the DHA-VHF couple can facilitate chemical and physical switching of electronic properties, as a result of photochemically induced rearrangement accompanied by a change in the redox potential. An interesting example of such a switching system is the compound containing a dihydroazulene component and a covalently attached anthraquinone moiety.1311 This system is able to act as a multimode switch, assisted by various processes such as photochromism, reversible electron transfer, and protonation-deprotonation reactions (Scheme 8). 

The actual catalytic cycle of [NiFe] hydrogenase encompasses only three states Ni-SIa, Ni-C and Ni-R, which are interconverted by one-electron/one-proton equilibria (Figure 3.4.7A) [123, 124], In the catalytic process, the approaching H2 is attached to the Ni, and the bond is polarized followed by base-assisted heterolytic cleavage of the H2 molecule leading to a bridging hydride species. One of the candidates for acting as a base is a terminal cysteine at the Ni. Alternatively, a water molecule bound to the iron has been proposed [120]. Concomitant electron transfer to the proximal FeS cluster then leads to the Ni-C state, which has been shown to... 

This process can be contrasted directly with the oxo transfer scheme (Reaction 16) discussed above. In either case, the cleavage of the N-O bond is assisted by the binding of oxygen to an electrophile (to molybdenum itself in the oxo transfer mechanism or to proton(s) in the coupled proton-electron transfer scheme). Although the coupled proton-electron transfer mechanism would possibly have the advantage of leaving an open site on molybdenum to restart the cycle, there is no strong data to support either of these mechanisms at present. 

Peluso, A., Di Donato, M., and Saracino, G.A.A.. (2000) An alternative way of thinking about electron transfer in proteins Proton assisted electron transfer between the primary and the secondary quinones in photosynthetic reaction centers, J. Chem. Phys. 113, 3212-3218. 

Phen and the radical anion of the alkene. Secondary electron transfer from allylsilane to Phen produces the radical cation of allylsilane and neutral Phen. The radical cation of allylsilane is cleaved by assistance of acetonitrile to generate an allyl radical. The allyl radical adds to the radical anion of the alkene to give the allylated anion which is converted into the product upon protonation. Alkyl and arylmethyl radicals can be generated in a similar manner from tetraalkyl tin compounds and arylmethylsilanes, respectively [124]. These radicals add regioselectively to the -position to the cyano groups in the radical anions of alkenes. 

The process involves deprotonation of the peroxy reagent and proton transfer to assist loss of a poor LG. Consistent with this heterolytic process, the reactivity of Fe porphyrins is found to be retarded by electron-withdrawing substitution when the oxidant is pentafluoroiodosylbenzene, but is accelerated with hydroperoxides [534]. 

However it turned out that the structural, chemical and dynamical details are essential for complex descriptions of long-range proton transport. These parameters appear to be distinctly different for different families of compounds, preventing proton conduction processes from being described by a single model or concept as is the case for electron transfer reactions in solutions (described within Marcus theory [23]) or hydrogen diffusion in metals (incoherent phonon assisted tunneling [24]). 

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