Passage from Stepwise to Concerted Dissociative Electron Transfer through Modulation of Electronic States Coupling

Analyzing mechanisms in Co(i) redox catalysis using a pattern recognition platform

Redox catalysis has been broadly utilized in electrochemical synthesis due to its kinetic advantages over direct electrolysis. The appropriate choice of redox mediator can avoid electrode passivation and overpotential, which strongly inhibit the efficient activation of substrates in electrolysis. Despite the benefits brought by redox catalysis, establishing the precise nature of substrate activation remains challenging. Herein, we determine that a Co(i) complex bearing two N,N,N-tridentate ligands acts as a competent redox catalyst for the reduction of benzyl bromide substrates. Kinetic studies combining electroanalytical techniques with multivariable linear-regression analysis were conducted, disclosing an outer-sphere electron-transfer mechanism, which occurs in concert with C-Br bond cleavage. Furthermore, we apply a pattern recognition platform to distinguish between mechanisms in the activation of benzyl bromides, found to be dependent on the ligation state of the cobalt(i) center and ligand used.

Dissociative electron transfer in polychlorinated aromatics. Reduction potentials from convolution analysis and quantum chemical calculations

The combination of convolution analysis and quantum-chemical calculations at DFT and CCSD(T)-F12 levels allows the determination of standard redox potentials and the mechanism type of dissociative ET in environmentally relevant polychlorinated benzenes.