Superoxo complexes formation

Rate constants of superoxo complex formation (k for metal complexes of non-porphyrin ligands... 

Figure 14.5 (a) Reaction of Al,Al -ethylenebis(3-Bu -salicylideniminato)cobalt(II) with dioxygen and pyridine to form the superoxo complex [Co(3-Bu Salen)2(02)py] the py ligand is almost coplanar with the Co-O-O plane, the angle between the two being 18°.< (b) Reversible formation of the peroxo complex [Ir(C0)Cl(02)(PPh3)2]. The more densely shaded part of the complex is accurately coplanar. ... 

These are typically prepared from low concentrations of chemically or photochemically generated low-valent metal complex (Cr2q, L(H20)2Co2 +, or L(H20)Rh2 +) and a large excess of 02 in slightly acidic aqueous solutions according to the chemistry in Eq. (1), where L = N4-macrocycle, (H20)4 or (NH3)4. The rate of formation of the superoxo complexes is mostly limited by the rate of water substitution at the metal centers, except in the case of L(H20)Rh2+ ions, which are pentacoordinate in solution (44). Selected kinetic data are shown in Table I. 

Marcus theory (15) has been applied to the study of the reductions of the jU,2-superoxo complexes [Co2(NH3)8(/u.2-02)(/i2-NH2)]4+ and [Co2(NH3)10(ju.2-O2)]6+ with the well-characterized outer-sphere reagents [Co(bipy)3]2+, [Co(phen)3]2+, and [Co(terpy)2]2+, where bipy = 2,2 -bipyridine, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, and terpy = 2,2 6, 2"-terpyridine (16a). The kinetics of these reactions could be adequately described using a simple outer-sphere pathway, as predicted by Marcus theory. However, the differences in reactivity between the mono-bridged and di-bridged systems do not appear to be explicable in purely structural terms. Rather, the reactivity differences appear to be caused by charge-dependent effects during the formation of the precursor complex. Some of the values for reduction potentials reported earlier for these species (16a) have been revised and corrected by later work (16b). 

The first step consists of the formation of the dioxygen adduct which can have either a superoxo structure (1) if the metal is a potential one-electron donor, or a peroxo structure (2) if the metal is a potential two-electron donor. These superoxo or peroxo complexes can be considered as the formal, but not chemical, analogs of the superoxide 02 and peroxide 022- anions. The superoxo complex (1) can further react with a second reduced metal atom to give the /x-peroxo species (3), which can cleave itself into the oxo species (4), which may be hydrolyzed to give the hydroxo species (6) or react with a second metal atom to give the p.-oxo species (5). The alkylperoxo (7) and hydroperoxo (8) species can result from the alkylation or protonation of the peroxo species (2), or from anion exchange from metal salts by alkyl hydroperoxides or hydrogen peroxide. 

It is now generally understood that the mechanism of hydroxylation by cytochrome P-450 proceeds by two successive one-electron reduction steps of the heme center, transforming dioxygen into a peroxide species bonded to iron (Scheme l).73,78 Well-defined steps (25) - (31) involve (a) the formation of a high-spin Fein-enzyme-substrate complex (26) (b) one-electron reduction of (26) to a high-spin ferrocytochrome (27) (c) addition of dioxygen to form a superoxo-Fe111 complex (28) and (d) one-electron reduction of the superoxo complex to a peroxide complex (29). 

These copper-mediated reactions very often involve dinuclear intermediates, but detailed mechanistic studies on stoichiometric systems are relatively few. The key features are the formation of p-peroxo or p-superoxo complexes by electron transfer from cop-per(i) to dioxygen. The co-ordinated oxygen may then act as an electrophile to the aromatic ring. A possible mechanism for the ortho-hydroxylation of phenol by dioxygen in the presence of copper catalysts is shown in Fig. 9-29. 

Figure 9-29. A possible mechanism for the oxidation of phenol to 1,2-benzoquinone by dioxygen in the presence of copper(i) salts. The key steps involve the formation of a peroxo or superoxo complex, followed by electrophilic attack upon the benzene ring.

Another hallmark of Cv iJi-ifr ifr peroxo) formation appears to be the fact that a Cu -superoxo complex is initially formed, which then reacts with another Cu complex forming the corresponding Cu -peroxo species. This was always suspected however, direct observation... 

A plausible way by which the photo-oxidation of the surface peroxo-titanium species may take place is the formation of the corresponding surface superoxo-titanium compound and its subsequent decomposition. It is to be noted, in this connection, that the superoxo complex of titanium (IV), TiOl, has been postulated to be the intermediate in the oxidation of peroxo-titanium (IV), TiOz, by cerium (IV) in perchloric acid solu-... 

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