A R T I C L E S
Fukuzumi et al.
Scheme 1
logical significance such as fuel cells,14-17 electrocatalytic
reduction of O2 has been the only method to probe the catalytic
reactivity of synthetic CcO model complexes. The most
important question of how the CcO enzyme catalyzes the four-
electron reduction of O2 to water without releasing the two-
electron reduced species (H2O2) has yet to be well understood.
Comparison of the catalytic reactivities of the biomimetic
complexes in the FeCu and Cu-free forms indicate that Cu does
not significantly affect the turnover frequency or the stability
of the catalyst and do not improve catalysis.18,19 The O2 binding
to Fe at one end and to Cu at the other is not necessary, and
only the iron porphyrin itself has been reported to be essential
for the four-electron reduction of O2.18-20 In contrast, dicobalt
bisporphyrins efficiently electrocatalyze the direct four-electron
reduction of O2 to water,21-23 whereas single cobalt porphyrins
can act as the four-electron reduction catalysts only through
self-assembly on the electrode surface.24 The difficulty in
determining the self-assembled structure on the electrode surface
has precluded the actual role of the bimetallic systems in the
four-electron reduction of O2. Thus, it is highly desired to study
the catalytic four-electron reduction of O2 vs two-electron
reduction of O2 using a one-electron reductant in a homogeneous
solution. Although cytochrome c is used as a one-electron
reductant in CcOs, no catalytic systems of four-electron reduc-
tion of O2 by a one-electron reductant in a homogeneous system
has ever been clarified quantitatively.25,26
purchased from Tokyo Kasei Organic Chemicals, Japan, and distilled
over P2O5 prior to use.30 Ferrocene (Wako Pure Chemicals, Japan),
1,1′-dimethylferrocene (Aldrich Co., USA), and decamethylferrocene
(9) Collman, J. P.; Boulatov, R.; Sunderland, C. J. In The Porphyrin Handbook;
Kadish, K. M., Smith, K. M., Guilard, R., Eds; Elsevier Science: USA,
2003; Vol. 11, pp 1-49.
(10) (a) Collman, J. P.; Fu, L.; Herrmann, P. C.; Zhang, X. M. Science 1997,
275, 949. (b) Collman, J. P. Inorg. Chem. 1997, 36, 5145. (c) Collman, J.
P.; Fu, L.; Herrmann, P. C.; Wang, Z.; Rapta, M.; Bro¨ring, M.; Schwen-
ninger, R.; Boitrel, B. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 1998, 37, 3397. (d) Boulatov,
R.; Collman, J. P.; Shiryaeva, I. M.; Sunderland, C. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc.
2002, 124, 11923.
(11) (a) Obias, H. V.; van Strijdonck, G. P. F.; Lee, D.-H.; Ralle, M.; Blackburn,
N. J.; Karlin, K. D. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1998, 120, 9696. (b) Ghiladi, R. A.;
Ju, T. D.; Lee, D.-H.; Moe¨nne-Loccoz, P.; Kaderli, S.; Neuhold, Y.-M.;
Zuberbu¨hler, A. D.; Woods, A. S.; Cotter, R. J.; Karlin, K. D. J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 1999, 121, 9885. (c) Ghiladi, R. A.; Hatwell, K. R.; Karlin, K. D.;
Huang, H.-w.; Moe¨nne-Loccoz, P.; Krebs, C.; Huynh, B. H.; Marzilli, L.
A.; Cotter, R. J.; Kaderli, S.; Zuberbu¨hler, A. D. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001,
123, 6183. (d) Liang, H. C.; Dahan, M.; Karlin, K. D. Curr. Opin. Chem.
Biol. 1999, 3, 168.
(12) (a) Baeg, J.-O.; Holm, R. H. Chem. Commun. 1998, 571. (b) Lim, B. S.;
Holm, R. H. Inorg. Chem. 1998, 37, 4898.
(13) (a) Collman, J. P.; Rapta, M.; Bro¨ring, M.; Raptova, L.; Schwenninger,
R.; Boitrel, B.; Fu, L.; L’Her, M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 1387. (b)
Collman, J. P.; Boulatov, R. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2002, 41, 3487.
(14) Anson, F. C.; Shi, C. N.; Steiger, B. Acc. Chem. Res. 1997, 30, 437.
(15) (a) Kingsborough, R. P.; Swager, T. M. Chem. Mater. 2000, 12, 872. (b)
Kingsborough, R. P.; Swager, T. M. AdV. Mater. 1998, 10, 1100. (c)
Vijayalatha, S.; Gomathi, H.; Prabhakara, R. Bull. Electrochem. 1992, 8,
222.
(16) (a) Rywkin, S.; Hosten, C. M.; Lombardi, J. R.; Birke, R. L. Langmuir
2002, 18, 5869. (b) Bouwkamp-Wijnoltz, A. L.; Visscher, W.; van Veen,
J. A. R.; Boellaard, E.; van der Kraan, A. M.; Tang, S. C. J. Phys. Chem.
B 2002, 106, 12993.
(17) (a) Liu, Z.; Anson, F. C. Inorg. Chem. 2001, 40, 1329. (b) Liu, Z.; Anson,
F. C. Inorg. Chem. 2000, 39, 274. (c) Yamamoto, K.; Oyaizu, K.; Tsuchida,
E. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 12665.
We report herein efficient four-electron reduction of dioxygen
by ferrocene derivatives which are one-electron reductants,
catalyzed by cofacial dicobalt porphyrins in the presence of
perchloric acid (HClO4) in benzonitrile (PhCN) as shown in
Scheme 1. The cofacial dicobalt porphyrins are chosen as
catalysts for the four-electron reduction of O2, because the
bimetallic system is indispensable for the four-electron reduction
of oxygen in the case of cobalt porphyrins, thus allowing for
the difference from the single metal system to be clarified.
Detailed kinetic comparison of catalytic reactivities of cofacial
dicobalt porphyrins and a single cobalt porphyrin and detection
of the reactive intermediates by ESR provide valuable insights
into the question how the bimetallic system catalyzes the four-
electron reduction of O2 to water without releasing the two-
electron reduced species (H2O2).
(18) Cu suppresses superoxide-releasing autoxidation of oxygenated catalyst and
accelerates O2 binding and minimizes O-O bond homolysis in the reduction
of H2O2. See: (a) Collman, J. P.; Fudickar, W.; Shiryaeva, I. Inorg. Chem.
2003, 42, 3384. (b) Reference 10d.
(19) Cu might be in a suitable electronic environment to interact properly with
the iron-bound O2 in such a way that the cleavage of the O-O bond occurs.
See: (a) Ricard, D.; Andrioletti, B.; L’Her, M.; Boitrel, B. Chem. Commun.
1999, 1523. (b) Ricard, D.; L’Her, M.; Richard, P.; Boitrel, B. Chem.s
Eur. J. 2001, 7, 3291. (c) Didier, A.; L’Her, M.; Boitrel, B. Org. Biomol.
Chem. 2003, 1, 1274.
(20) (a) Shigehara, K.; Anson, F. C. J. Phys. Chem. 1982, 86, 2776. (b)
Bouwkamp-Wijnoltz, A. L.; Visscher, W.; van Veen, J. A. R. Electrochim.
Acta 1998, 43, 3141. (c) Xuan Zheng, W.; Yi Jun, L.; Bernd, G.; Nai Teng,
Y.; Reinhard, R. Electroanalysis 1997, 9, 1288. (d) Wan, G.-X.; Shigehara,
K.; Tsuchida, E.; Anson, F. C. J. Electroanal. Chem. Interfacial Electro-
chem. 1984, 179, 239. (e) Kobayashi, N.; Osa, T. J. Electroanal. Chem.
Interfacial Electrochem. 1983, 157, 269.
(21) (a) Chang, C. K.; Abdalmuhdi, I. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 1984, 23,
164. (b) Chang, C. K.; Liu, H. Y.; Abdalmuhdi, I. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1984,
106, 2725.
(22) (a) Collman, J. P.; Hutchison, J. E.; Lopez, M. A.; Tabard, A.; Guilard,
R.; Seok, W. K.; Ibers, J. A.; L’Her, M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1992, 114,
9869. (b) Collman, J. P.; Wagenknecht, P. S.; Hutchison, J. E. Angew.
Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 1994, 33, 1537. (c) Collman, J. P.; Denisevich, P.;
Konai, Y.; Marrocco, M.; Koval, C.; Anson, F. C. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1980,
102, 6027.
Experimental Section
Materials. All solvents and chemicals were of reagent grade quality,
obtained commercially and used without further purification except as
noted below. 2,3,7,8,12,13,17,18-Octaethyl-21H,23H-porphine cobalt-
(II) [Co(OEP)] was purchased by Aldrich Co., USA. The PhCN solution
of Co(III)(OEP) was produced by addition of the trace of perchloric
acid. Details on the synthesis and characterization of each cofacial
dicobalt porphyrin [Co2(DPB), Co2(DPA), Co2(DPX), and Co2(DPD)]
have been reported elsewhere.22a,23a,27,28 Preparation of 1-tert-butyl-5-
phenylimidazole has been described.29 Benzonitrile (PhCN) was
(23) (a) Deng, Y.; Chang, C. J.; Nocera, D. G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122,
410. (b) Chang, C. J.; Deng, Y.; Shi, C.; Chang, C. K.; Anson, F. C.; Nocera,
D. G. Chem. Commun. 2000, 1355. (c) Le Mest, Y.; Inisan, M.; Laoue´nan,
A.; L’Her, M.; Talarmin, J.; El Khalifa, M. E.; Saillard, J.-Y. J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 1997, 119, 6095. (d) Steiger, B.; Anson, F. C. Inorg. Chem. 2000, 39,
4579. (e) Zou, S.; Clegg, R. S.; Anson, F. C. Langmuir 2002, 18, 3241.
(24) D’Souza, F.; Hsieh, Y.-Y.; Deviprasad, G. R. Chem. Commun. 1998, 1027.
(25) For the catalytic two-electron reduction of O2 in a homogeneous solution,
see: (a) Fukuzumi, S.; Mochizuki, S.; Tanaka, T. Inorg. Chem. 1989, 28,
2459. (b) Fukuzumi, S.; Mochizuki, S.; Tanaka, T. Inorg. Chem. 1990, 29,
653. (c) Anson, F. C.; Ni, C.-L.; Saveant, J.-M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1985,
107, 3442.
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10442 J. AM. CHEM. SOC. VOL. 126, NO. 33, 2004