Radical species reductive metal insertion

Electrochemical reductions of CO2 at a number of metal electrodes have been reported [12, 65, 66]. CO has been identified as the principal product for Ag and Au electrodes in aqueous bicarbonate solutions at current densities of 5.5 mA cm [67]. Different mechanisms for the formation of CO on metal electrodes have been proposed. It has been demonstrated for Au electrodes that the rate of CO production is proportional to the partial pressure of CO2. This is similar to the results observed for the formation of CO2 adducts of homogeneous catalysts discussed earlier. There are also a number of spectroscopic studies of CO2 bound to metal surfaces [68-70], and the formation of strongly bound CO from CO2 on Pt electrodes [71]. These results are consistent with the mechanism proposed for the reduction of CO2 to CO by homogeneous complexes described earlier and shown in Sch. 2. Alternative mechanistic pathways for the formation of CO on metal electrodes have proposed the formation of M—COOH species by (1) insertion of CO2 into M—H bonds on the surface or (2) by outer-sphere electron transfer to CO2 followed by protonation to form a COOH radical and then adsorption of the neutral radical [12]. Certainly, protonation of adsorbed CO2 by a proton on the surface or in solution would be reasonable. However, insertion of CO2 into a surface hydride would seem unlikely based on precedents in homogeneous catalysis. CO2 insertion into transition metal hydrides complexes invariably leads to formation of formate complexes in which C—H bonds rather than O—H bonds have been formed, as discussed in the next section. 

AI(TPP)(Et), where six-coordinate adducts were obtained upon addition of imidazole For the indium complexes, irradiation in benzene and pyridine leads to a reduced complex whose ESR trace suggests - at least partly - a metal centered reduction leading to radical species stabilized by pyridine. These radicals then add carbon dioxide to give the insertion products. 

The authors proposed the following picture of the silylene anion-radical formation. Treatment of the starting material by the naphthalene anion-radical salt with lithium or sodium (the metals are denoted here as M) results in two-electron reduction of >Si=Si< bond with the formation of >SiM—MSi< intermediate. The existence of this intermediate was experimentally proven. The crown ether removes the alkali cation, leaving behind the >Si - Si< counterpart. This sharply increases electrostatic repulsion within the silicon-silicon bond and generates the driving force for its dissociation. In a control experiment, with the alkali cation inserted into the crown ether, >Si — Si< species does dissociate into two [>Si ] particles. 

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