Self-assembled monolayers of a disulphide-derivatised cobalt-porphyrin on gold

Metal insertion into phosphonic acid terminated porphyrins immobilized on TiO2 electrodes

In this study an easy access for modification of properties of porphyrin covered TiO2 electrodes by post-assembling metal insertion was investigated. Therefore a new type of phosphonic acid terminated porphyrin was synthesized and immobilized on mesoporous TiO2 electrodes by self-assembling. Surface concentrations in a range of 1.5–3.3 × 10-8 mol.cm-2, based on the geometric area, were obtained by two independent techniques, UV-vis and cyclic voltammetry. Co(II) , Zn(II) , Pd(II) and Mn(III) ions could be inserted into the immobilized porphyrin by exposing the electrode to a boiling solution of metal chloride in methanol. The electrode surface was characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry before and after metal insertion. The electrocatalytic activity towards the reduction of molecular oxygen in acidic solution was examined, further confirming metal insertion into immobilized porphyrin monolayer.

Synthesis and self-assembly of a novel cobalt(II) porphyrin lipoic acid derivative on gold

A novel Co(II) porphyrin lipoic acid derivative was synthesized starting from the commerically available red blood pigment hemin. The disulfide functionalities of the lipoic acid moieties allowed its immobilization on gold by a self-assembly method. The Co(II) porphyrin self-assembled monolayer (SAMs) on gold (111) surfaces were characterized electrochemically through monolayer reductive desorption and evaluation of the redox properties of the immobilized molecules in organic medium, and by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). It was found that after assembly the Co(II) porphyrin is electroactive exhibiting the typical redox processes observed for its precursor without the appended lipoic acid in solution. A coverage of 2.7 × 10-10 mol.cm -2 has been estimated assuming that four electrons (one per each sulfur atom) are involved in the process. The porphyrin-modified gold electrodes exhibit catalytic acitivity demonstrated towards the reduction of molecular oxygen in acidic solution.

Interaction of nitric oxide with Ru(II) complexes of deuteroporphyrindimethylester derivatives

A new ruthenium(II) porphyrin disulphide derivative, [ Ru ( Pds )( CO )], was obtained from ruthenium(II)(carbonyl)deuteroporphyrin(IX), [ Ru ( DPdc )( CO )] and cystamine. The interaction of this complex with nitric oxide was studied spectrophotometrically and a bathochromic shift of the charge transfer band and considerable change in the α and β bands of the complex were observed. According to the IR spectrum, the product of this interaction is [ Ru ( DmDP )( NO +)( NO 2-)]. [ Ru ( Pds )( CO )] was then self-assembled on polycrystalline gold and characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. [ Ru ( Pds )( CO )] was also self-assembled on gold electrode beads and its interaction with nitric oxide in aqueous solution was studied by cyclic voltammetry. A shift in the ruthenium redox process and a new irreversible cathodic peak at -0.59 V were observed, both indicating coordination of NO .

Self-assembly of a Rh(I) complex on Au(111) surfaces and its electrocatalytic activity toward the hydrogen evolution reaction

The self-assembly of a Wilkinson type of catalyst molecule, trans-RhCl(CO)(PPh3)2, on Au(111) surfaces and its electrocatalytic properties toward the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are investigated by employing scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The self-assembled monolayers of RhCl(CO)(PPh3)2 are prepared from either dichloromethane or aqueous solutions, but the ordered structures are observed only in atmospheric conditions after solvents evaporate. In the electrolyte solutions, disordered yet uniformly sized spherical clusters of individual molecules are observed as a result of the conformational change of the molecule by the solvation effect of water. The immobilized Rh(I) molecular clusters are electrochemically stable in a wide potential window and exhibit remarkable electrocatalytic activity toward HER in perchloric acid solutions. Several comparative experiments involving similar types of immobilized complexes containing Ru(I) and Ir(I) centers and solution species of RhCl(CO)(PPh3)2 are performed. However, none of them are found to be electroactive to HER. The Tafel slope of HER on the Rh(I) complex modified Au(111) electrode in 0.1 M HClO4 is determined to be -0.061 V, which is almost in the middle of those on bare Au(111) (-0.093 V) and Rh covered (thetaRh approximately 0.3) Au(111) (-0.034 V) electrodes. XPS measurements reveal a valence change of Rh(I) to Rh(0), and an oxidative addition and reductive elimination mechanism is suggested for the enhancement of HER.

Electrochemical Characterization of Self-Assembled Thiol-Porphyrin Monolayers on Gold Electrodes by SECM

Herein, the scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) approach is applied to study the formation of thiol-porphyrin self-assembled monolayer (SAMs). Using cyclic voltammetry (CV), the formation process is characterized adopting different probe molecules. The observed phenomena indicate that the formation process is affected by solution properties and the molecular structure of the probe molecules. In K(3)Fe(CN)(6) , the SAMs show a strong electron-transfer (ET) blocking effect on a pure porphyrin-modified electrode. However, addition of metal ions to the porphyrin molecules leads to ET. A consistent tendency is observed throughout the modification process using CV and SECM methods. Furthermore, k(eff) values, the apparent heterogeneous rate constants, obtained for different modification periods affirm the validity of these results. SECM images are used to collect surface information in the course of the modification process when the substrate potential is 0.5 V versus Ag/AgCl. The effect of the substrate potential indicates that the oxidation of the porphyrin molecules is supported by more positive potentials because of the similar bimolecular reaction of the porphyrin ring with positive charge and the probe molecules with negative charge.