Y. Zhang et al. / Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 694 (2009) 2576–2580
2579
Fig. 2. Cyclic voltammogram of complex B (1.0 mM) with HOAc [(a) 0–10 mM and (b) 10–50 mM]. Supporting electrode is 0.1 M n-Bu4NPF6 in MeCN; working electrode:
glassy carbon (0.0071 cm2); reference electrode: Ag|AgCl; scan rate = 0.1 V sÀ1
.
the all-CO complex 1 [29]. The electrochemical behavior conveys a
na (No. 20471061), the Science & Technology Innovation
message that, although the average electron density of the diiron
Foundation for Young Scholar of Fujian Province (No. 2007F3112)
for financial support of this work.
centers of A, B and C are comparable to those of 2–5, the
of the pyridine ring can render the uneven electron density of the
two iron atoms through an electron delocalisation. The strong
p-orbits
p
-
Appendix A. Supplementary data
accepting capability, also reported in substitutions of sulfoxides
[20], suggests pyridine rings to be potential candidates to tune
the electron properties of the diiron centers; this can be supported
by another evidence that the carbene–pyridine disubstituted com-
plex (l-pdt)Fe2(CO)4(NHCMePy) displays similar reductive behav-
iors to those of the mono-substituents [6].
CCDC 670552, 670553 and 670554 contain the supplementary
crystallographic data for A, B and C. These data can be obtained
free of charge from The Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre
associated with this article can be found, in the online version, at
The electrochemical behavior of model B was analyzed in details
in presence of HOAc (0–10 mM) as a source of protons (Fig. 2). The
first reductive peak for B at ca. –1.24 V did not shift and the current
height showed a minor growing, indicating that H+ did not incorpo-
rate to the model complex B. It was of particular interest that the
second reduction peak for B shifted towards a more negative poten-
tial linearly with the addition of HOAc (0–10 mM), which electro-
chemical behavior features a proton relative process.
While HOAc was added continuously (10–50 mM), it is interest-
ing that the first reductive peak increased distinctly while the sec-
ond reductive peak reduced and disappeared at 30 mM of HOAc.
Another measurement was made, in which 30 mM HOAc was
added to the solution immediately. The first reductive peak at ca.
À1.20 V grew dramatically, while the second one at À1.67 V disap-
peared at once. Under the effect of the excessive acid, complex B
was proven to be reductive active at a rather low first reduction
potential, while many other reported diiron model complexes were
electrocatalytic inactive at the first reduction event in the presence
of HOAc [32]. Functional and structural improvement on pyridine-
N-ligands as good candidates to reduce the overpotentials of 2Fe2S
model complexes is in progress.
References
[1] J.W. Peters, W.N. Lanzilotta, B.J. Lemon, L.C. Seefeldt, Science 282 (1998) 1853–
1858.
[2] Y. Nicolet, C. Piras, P. Legrand, C.E. Hatchikian, Structure 7 (1997) 13–23.
[3] Y. Nicolet, A.L. de Lacey, X. Vernède, V.M. Fernandez, C.E. Hatchikian, J.C.
Fontecilla-Camps, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123 (2001) 1596–1601.
[4] J.F. Capon, S.E. Hassnaoui, F. Gloaguen, P. Schollhammer, J. Talarmin,
Organometallics 24 (2005) 2020–2022.
[5] J.W. Tye, J. Lee, H.W. Wang, R. Mejia-Rodriguez, J.H. Reibenspies, M.B. Hall, M.Y.
Darensbourg, Inorg. Chem. 44 (2005) 5550–5552.
[6] L.L. Duan, M. Wang, P. Li, Y. Na, N. Wang, L.C. Sun, Dalton Trans. (2007) 1277–
1283.
[7] D. Morvan, J.F. Capon, F. Gloaguen, A. Le Goff, M. Marchivie, F. Michaud, P.
Schollhammer, J. Talarmin, J.J. Yaouanc, R. Pichon, N. Kervarec,
Organometallics 26 (2007) 2042–2052.
[8] A.L. Cloiree, S.P. Best, S. Borg, S.C. Davies, D.J. Evans, D.L. Hughes, C.J. Pickett,
Chem. Commun. (1999) 2285–2286.
[9] E.J. Lyon, I.P. Georgakaki, J.H. Reibenspies, M.Y. Darensbourg, J. Am. Chem. Soc.
123 (2001) 3268–3278.
[10] F. Gloaguen, J.D. Lawrence, M. Schmidt, S.R. Wilson, T.B. Rauchfuss, J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 123 (2001) 12518–12527.
[11] J.L. Nehring, D.M. Heinekey, Inorg. Chem. 42 (2003) 4288–4292.
[12] C.A. Boyke, T.B. Rauchfuss, S.R. Wilson, M.M. Rohmer, M. Bénard, J. Am. Chem.
Soc. 126 (2004) 15151–15160.
[13] X. Zhao, I.P. Georgakaki, M.L. Miller, J.C. Yarbrough, M.Y. Darensbourg, J. Am.
Chem. Soc. 123 (2001) 9710–9711.
[14] X. Zhao, I.P. Georgakaki, M.L. Miller, R. Mejia-Rodriguez, C.Y. Chiang, M.Y.
Darensbourg, Inorg. Chem. 41 (2002) 3917–3928.
[15] P. Li, M. Wang, C. He, G. Li, X. Liu, C. Chen, B. Åkermark, L. Sun, Eur. J. Inorg.
Chem. (2005) 2506–2513.
[16] W. Dong, M. Wang, X. Liu, K. Jin, G. Li, F. Wang, L. Sun, Chem. Commun. (2006)
305–307.
[17] W. Dong, M. Wang, T. Liu, X. Liu, K. Jin, L. Sun, J. Inorg. Biochem. 101 (2007)
506–513.
[18] W. Gao, J. Ekström, J. Liu, C. Chen, L. Eriksson, L. Weng, B. Åkermark, L. Sun,
Inorg. Chem. 46 (2007) 1981–1991.
Abbreviations
etpy
btpy
NH2Pr
NHCMePy
pdt
4-(ethylthio)pyridine
4-(n-butylthio)pyridine
propylamine
1-methyl-3-(2-pyridyl)imidazol-2-ylidene
propanedithiolate
py
pyridine
SEt2
Ethyl thioether
[19] M.Q. Hu, C.B. Ma, X.F. Zhang, F. Chen, C.N. Chen, Q.T. Liu, Chem. Lett. 35 (2006)
840–841.
Acknowledgements
[20] M.Q. Hu, C.B. Ma, Y.T. Si, C.N. Chen, Q.T. Liu, J. Inorg. Biochem. 101 (2007)
1370–1375.
[21] T.B. Liu, M.Y. Darensbourg, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 129 (2007) 7008–7009.
The authors are grateful to the National Key Foundation of Chi-
na (No. 20633020), the National Natural Science Foundation of Chi-