Electron Transfer Steps

At higher current densities, the primary electron transfer rate is usually no longer limiting instead, limitations arise tluough the slow transport of reactants from the solution to the electrode surface or, conversely, the slow transport of the product away from the electrode (diffusion overpotential) or tluough the inability of chemical reactions coupled to the electron transfer step to keep pace (reaction overpotential). 

Examples of the lader include the adsorption or desorption of species participating in the reaction or the participation of chemical reactions before or after the electron transfer step itself One such process occurs in the evolution of hydrogen from a solution of a weak acid, HA in this case, the electron transfer from the electrode to die proton in solution must be preceded by the acid dissociation reaction taking place in solution. 

The mechanism includes two single electron transfers (steps 1 and 3) and two proton transfers (steps 2 and 4) Experimental evidence indicates that step 2 is rate determining and it is believed that the observed trans stereochemistry reflects the dis tribution of the two stereoisomeric alkenyl radical intermediates formed in this step... 

The formation of a Gngnard reagent is analogous to that of organohthium reagents except that each magnesium atom can participate m two separate one electron transfer steps... 

This difference is a measure of the free-energy driving force for the development reaction. If the development mechanism is treated as an electrode reaction such that the developing silver center functions as an electrode, then the electron-transfer step is first order in the concentration of D and first order in the surface area of the developing silver center (280) (Fig. 13). Phenomenologically, the rate of formation of metallic silver is given in equation 17,... 

The detailed mechanism of battery electrode reactions often involves a series of chemical and electrochemical or charge-transfer steps. Electrode reaction sequences can also include diffusion steps on the electrode surface. Because of the high activation energy required to transfer two electrons at one time, the charge-transfer reactions are beheved to occur by a series of one electron-transfer steps illustrated by the reactions of the 2inc electrode in strongly alkaline medium (41). 

Polymerization Initiator. Some unsaturated monomers can be polymerized through the aid of free radicals generated, as transient intermediates, in the course of a redox reaction. The electron-transfer step during the redox process causes the scission of an intermediate to produce an active free radical. The ceric ion, Ce" ", is a strong one-electron oxidizing agent that can readily initiate the redox polymerization of, for example, vinyl monomers in aqueous media at near ambient temperatures (40). The reaction scheme is... 

One apparent discrepancy between the spectroscopic data and the crystal structure is that no spectroscopic signal has been measured for participation of the accessory chlorophyll molecule Ba in the electron transfer process. However, as seen in Figure 12.15, this chlorophyll molecule is between the special pair and the pheophytin molecule and provides an obvious link for electron transfer in two steps from the special pair through Ba to the pheophytin. This discrepancy has prompted recent, very rapid measurements of the electron transfer steps, still without any signal from Ba- This means either... 

There is another possible mechanism for addition of organometallic reagents to carbonyl compounds. This involves a discrete electron-transfer step. °... 

Most of the free-radical mechanisms discussed thus far have involved some combination of homolytic bond dissociation, atom abstraction, and addition steps. In this section, we will discuss reactions that include discrete electron-transfer steps. Addition to or removal of one electron fi om a diamagnetic organic molecule generates a radical. Organic reactions that involve electron-transfer steps are often mediated by transition-metal ions. Many transition-metal ions have two or more relatively stable oxidation states differing by one electron. Transition-metal ions therefore firequently participate in electron-transfer processes. 

The electron transfer step is typically fast and efficient. Griller et a/.292 measured absolute rate constants for decay of benzophenone triplet in the presence of aliphatic tertiary amines in benzene as solvent. Values lie in die range 3-4x109 M 1 s 1 and quantum yields are close to unity. 

Pre-irradiation of the salt with X-rays [1075] increased the extent of the initial deceleratory rate process, an effect attributed to the promotion of the electron transfer step. Neutron irradiation [1074] accelerated the decomposition rate and reduced the magnitude of E for the induction period from 216 to 159 kJ mole-1. 

Consider again the electron-transfer reaction O + ne = R the actual electron transfer step involves transfer of the electron between the conduction band of the electrode and a molecular orbital of O or R (e.g., for a reduction, from the conduction band into an unoccupied orbital in O). The rate of the forward (reduction) reaction, Vf, is first order in O ... 

Between the space charge layer establishes the potential (j>2 and the magnitude of this potential depends on and the ionic strength of the solution. It will be apparent that 2 will determine the concentrations of charged electroactive species, while will determine the rate of the electron transfer step if... 

These equations may be used directly to predict the effect of pressure on the chemical reactions preceding or following the electron transfer step and, by use of standard thermodynamic formulae, they may be modified to allow a consideration of the electron transfer step itself. For example, the electrode reaction... 

The oxidation or reduction of a substrate suffering from sluggish electron transfer kinetics at the electrode surface is mediated by a redox system that can exchange electrons rapidly with the electrode and the substrate. The situation is clear when the half-wave potential of the mediator is equal to or more positive than that of the substrate (for oxidations, and vice versa for reductions). The mediated reaction path is favored over direct electrochemistry of the substrate at the electrode because, by the diffusion/reaction layer of the redox mediator, the electron transfer step takes place in a three-dimensional reaction zone rather than at the surface Mediation can also occur when the half-wave potential of the mediator is on the thermodynamically less favorable side, in cases where the redox equilibrium between mediator and substrate is disturbed by an irreversible follow-up reaction of the latter. The requirement of sufficiently fast electron transfer reactions of the mediator is usually fulfilled by such revemible redox couples PjQ in which bond and solvate... 

The beauty of bromide-mediated oxidations is that they combine mechanistic complexity with practical simplicity and, hence, utility. They involve an intricate array of electron transfer steps in which bromine atoms function as go-betweens in transfering the oxidizing power of peroxidic intermediates, via redox metal ions, to the substrate. Because the finer mechanistic details of these elegant processes have often not been fully appreciated we feel that their full synthetic potential has not yet been realized. Hence, we envision further practical applications in the future. 

After the electron transfer (step 3), the resulting semiquinone is tightly hound to the reduced Rieske cluster in the b positional state (D) in this state, the semiquinone intermediate will he stabilized (116). 

The electron transfer step is the only reaction step, which means that other parallel or consecutive steps are absent. 

Hartnig C, Koper MTM. 2002. Molecular dynamics simulation of the first electron transfer step in the oxygen reduction reaction. J Electroanal Chem 532 165-170. 

Section 18.2). The latest generation of such catalysts (1 in Fig. 18.17) reproduces the key features of the site (i) the proximal imidazole ligation of the heme (ii) the trisi-midazole ligation of distal Cu (iii) the Fe-Cu separation and (iv) the distal phenol covalently attached to one of the imidazoles. As a result, binding of O2 to compound 1 in its reduced (Fe Cu ) state appears to result in rapid reduction of O2 to the level of oxides (—2 oxidation state) without the need for outer-sphere electron transfer steps [Collman et ah, 2007b]. This reactivity is analogous to that of the heme/Cu site of cytochrome c oxidase (see Section 18.2). 

Only three steps of the proposed mechanism (Fig. 18.20) could not be carried out individually under stoichiometric conditions. At pH 7 and the potential-dependent part of the catalytic wave (>150 mV vs. NHE), the —30 mV/pH dependence of the turnover frequency was observed for both Ee/Cu and Cu-free (Fe-only) forms of catalysts 2, and therefore it requires two reversible electron transfer steps prior to the turnover-determining step (TDS) and one proton transfer step either prior to the TDS or as the TDS. Under these conditions, the resting state of the catalyst was determined to be ferric-aqua/Cu which was in a rapid equilibrium with the fully reduced ferrous-aqua/Cu form (the Fe - and potentials were measured to be within < 20 mV of each other, as they are in cytochrome c oxidase, resulting in a two-electron redox equilibrium). This first redox equilibrium is biased toward the catalytically inactive fully oxidized state at potentials >0.1 V, and therefore it controls the molar fraction of the catalytically active metalloporphyrin. The fully reduced ferrous-aqua/Cu form is also in a rapid equilibrium with the catalytically active 5-coordinate ferrous porphyrin. As a result of these two equilibria, at 150 mV (vs. NHE), only <0.1%... 

FIG. 11 General mechanism for the heterogeneous photoreduction of a species Q located in the organic phase by the water-soluble sensitizer S. The electron-transfer step is in competition with the decay of the excited state, while a second competition involved the separation of the geminate ion-pair and back electron transfer. The latter process can be further affected by the presence of a redox couple able to regenerate the initial ground of the dye. This process is commonly referred to as supersensitization. (Reprinted with permission from Ref. 166. Copyright 1999 American Chemical Society.)... 

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