Water oxidation is the bottleneck of artificial photosynthesis.Since the first ruthenium-based molecular water oxidation catalyst,the blue dimer,was reported by Meyer’ s group in 1982,catalysts based on transition me...Water oxidation is the bottleneck of artificial photosynthesis.Since the first ruthenium-based molecular water oxidation catalyst,the blue dimer,was reported by Meyer’ s group in 1982,catalysts based on transition metals have been widely employed to explore the mechanism of water oxidation.Because the oxidation of water requires harsh oxidative conditions,the stability of transition complexes under the relevant catalytic conditions has always been a challenge.In this work,we report the redox properties of a CuⅢ complex(TAML-CuⅢ] with a redox-active macrocyclic ligand(TAML) and its reactivity toward catalytic water oxidation.TAML-CuⅢ displayed a completely different electrochemical behavior from that of the TAML-CoⅢ complex previously reported by our group.TAML-CuⅢ can only be oxidized by one-electron oxidation of the ligand to form TAML·+-CuⅢand cannot achieve water activation through the ligand-centered proton-coupled electron transfer that takes place in the case of TAML-CoⅢ.The generated TAML·+-CuⅢ intermediate can undergo further oxidation and ligand hydrolysis with the assistance of borate anions,triggering the formation of a heterogeneous B/CuOx nanocatalyst Therefore,the choice of the buffer solution has a significant influence on the electrochemical behavior and stability of molecular water oxidation catalysts.展开更多
文摘Water oxidation is the bottleneck of artificial photosynthesis.Since the first ruthenium-based molecular water oxidation catalyst,the blue dimer,was reported by Meyer’ s group in 1982,catalysts based on transition metals have been widely employed to explore the mechanism of water oxidation.Because the oxidation of water requires harsh oxidative conditions,the stability of transition complexes under the relevant catalytic conditions has always been a challenge.In this work,we report the redox properties of a CuⅢ complex(TAML-CuⅢ] with a redox-active macrocyclic ligand(TAML) and its reactivity toward catalytic water oxidation.TAML-CuⅢ displayed a completely different electrochemical behavior from that of the TAML-CoⅢ complex previously reported by our group.TAML-CuⅢ can only be oxidized by one-electron oxidation of the ligand to form TAML·+-CuⅢand cannot achieve water activation through the ligand-centered proton-coupled electron transfer that takes place in the case of TAML-CoⅢ.The generated TAML·+-CuⅢ intermediate can undergo further oxidation and ligand hydrolysis with the assistance of borate anions,triggering the formation of a heterogeneous B/CuOx nanocatalyst Therefore,the choice of the buffer solution has a significant influence on the electrochemical behavior and stability of molecular water oxidation catalysts.
