Inner sphere electron transfer process

This conception of an 8, 2 reaction as an electron-shift process is obviously equivalent to its conception as an inner sphere electron transfer, i.e. a single electron transfer concerted with the breaking of the R—X bond and the formation of the R—Nu bond. Faced with an experimental system, however, the first question—ET or 8 2 —still remains, whatever intimate description of the 8, 2 reaction one may consider most appropriate. If this is thought of in terms of inner sphere electron transfer, the question thus raised is part of the more general problem of distinguishing outer sphere from inner sphere electron-transfer processes (Lexa et ai, 1981), an actively investigated question in other areas of chemistry, particularly that of coordination complex chemistry (Taube, 1970 Espenson, 1986). 

If, whatever the interest of conceiving electron-pair transfer reactions such as Sn2 substitution as an inner sphere electron-transfer process, single electron transfer is intended to qualify reactions in which the rate-determining step is an outer sphere, non-dissociative or dissociative electron-transfer step preceding the bond-formation step, then the answer is no. There are a number of cases where true SN2 mechanisms (in which the bond-breaking and bond-formation steps are concerted) do occur, even with nucleophiles that are members of reversible one-electron reversible redox couples. In terms of activation energy, the SN2 mechanism merges with the outer sphere, dissociative electron-transfer mechanism when the bonded interactions in the transition state vanish. Steric constraints at the electro-... 

Thiolate sulfur in [Co(cyst)(en)2]2+ can be protonated in strong add without dissotiation from the metal1039 but all thiolate chelates seem to be unstable in strongly alkaline solutions undergoing slow thermal reduction via an inner-sphere electron-transfer process (equation 160).1056... 

Hence it appears that these types of processes seem to be reasonably well-understood both experimentally and theoretically. In contrast, inner-sphere electron transfer processes, and processes involving adsorbed redox species, are not well-understood at present. 

It is generally believed that the oxidation of thiourea and related compounds by aqua-metal ions involves an inner-sphere electron-transfer process, whereas an outer-sphere mechanism is more commonly associated with substitution-inert complexes. The stoichiometry of redox reactions with one-electron oxidizing agents is different for acid and alkaline media. The oxidation of both thiourea and thioacetamide by [Mo(CN)g] in the range 0.02 < [HCIO4] < 0.08 M proceeds in a 1 1 ratio, yielding the disulfide as a product (108) ... 

The encounter complexes exhibit high degrees of charge-transfer [20, 91], and on the basis of absorption and emission data electronic coupling matrix elements for similar complexes (exciplexes) have been determined [205] which are comparable to those of mixed-valence metal complexes commonly used as prototypical models for the bridged-activated complex in inner-sphere electron transfers [2, 26, 197]. Accordingly, we ascribe the unusually high rate constants, their temperature-independence, and their on-Marcus behavior to an inner-sphere electron transfer process [31]. 

It is important to note for the following discussion that in electron-transfer processes the reductant s highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) should combine with the oxidant s lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the same symmetry to ensure proper overlap of reductant and oxidant orbitals to initiate electron transfer. That is, electron transfer will occur readily from n to n orbitals on different species or from a to a but not n to a in a linear arrangement of atoms [e.g., A-B-C in Appendix I (following references at the end of this chapter)]. In the case of outer-sphere electron-transfer processes, n- to 7r-electron transfers are favored over a to a because (1) such transfers do not require major changes in bond lengths in the precursor complex (lower activation energy) and (2) the n orbitals are more diffuse or better exposed than a orbitals. This process is well documented for transition metals. For inner-sphere electron-transfer processes, both n- to n- and a- to n-electron transfers are most favored (Purcell and Kotz, 1980). 

The importance of Marcus theoretical work on electron transfer reactions was recognized with a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1992, and its historical development is outlined in his Nobel Lecture.3 The aspects of his theoretical work most widely used by experimentalists concern outer-sphere electron transfer reactions. These are characterized by weak electronic interactions between electron donors and acceptors along the reaction coordinate and are distinct from inner-sphere electron transfer processes that proceed through the formation of chemical bonds between reacting species. Marcus theoretical work includes intermolecular (often bimolecular) reactions, intramolecular electron transfer, and heterogeneous (electrode) reactions. The background and models presented here are intended to serve as an introduction to bimolecular processes. 

Besides the superoxide dismutation mechanism, the reactivity of metal centers, in particular manganese complexes, toward NO is very much dependent on the possibility for binding a substrate molecule. As it will be shown later, the possibility that MnSOD enzymes and some mimetics can react with NO has been wrongly excluded in the literature, simply based on the known redox potential for the (substrate) free enzymes, mimetics, and NO, respectively. Therefore, the general fact that, upon coordination, redox potentials of both the metal center and a coordinated species are changed should be considered in the case of any inner-sphere electron-transfer process as a possible reaction mechanism. 

The rate of ceric oxidation of substituted benzilic (2,2-diphenyi-2-hydroxyacetic) acid in sulfuric add, aqueous perchloric/acetic add and acetonitrile is the subject of two reports from Hanna and Sarac (1977a, b). The reaction proceeds like the other a-hydroxycarboxylic acids by oxidative decarboxylation, producing substituted benzo-phenones and COj. The primary interest in the first of these two reports (Hanna and Sarac 1977a) is in the organic chemical aspects of the reactions. However, it is observed that the relative rates vary with the media in the order H2SO4 > HC104/acetic acid > acetonitrile. Although little mechanistic information exists, it is apparent that the oxidation proceeds via an inner-sphere, electron transfer process. 

The kinetics of the oxidation of [Cr(OH2)6] by Ce(IV) and IO4 as well as a series of aminocarboxylate [(edta, 2-hydroxy-ethylene diaminetriace-tate (toh), nta ] chromium(III) complexes by 10 have been reported. In all cases, the product is Cr(VI) [Eqs. (14) and (15)] and two of the studies describe the effect of mixed solvents(Table 6.9). An inner-sphere electron transfer process is proposed for reaction (14). 

ATRP is based on the reversible transfer of a halogen atom between a dormant alkyl halide and a transition metal catalyst using redox chemistry. The alkyl halide is reduced to a growing radical and the transition metal is oxidized via an inner sphere electron transfer process. In the most studied reaction, the role of the activator is... 

In this situation the rate equations derived in the preceding section for inner-sphere electron-transfer processes are also valid for proton-transfer reactions. 

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