Electron transfer and bond breaking: Recent advances

After a reminder of concerted/stepwise mechanistic dichotomy and other basic concepts and facts in the field, a series of recent advances is discussed. Particular emphasis is laid on the interactions between the fragments formed upon bond cleavage. These interactions may persist even in polar solvents and have important consequences on dissociative electron transfer kinetics and on the competition between concerted and stepwise pathways. Cleavage of ion radicals and its reverse reaction are examples of single electron transfer reactions concerted with bond cleavage and bond formation, respectively. The case of aromatic carbon–heteroatom bonds is particularly worth examination since symmetry restrictions impose circumventing a conical intersection. Reductive dehalogenases are involved in ‘dehalorespiration’ of anaerobic bacteria in which the role of dioxygen in aerobic organisms is played by major polychloride pollutants such as tetrachloroethylene. They offer an interesting illustration of how the coupling of electron transfer with bond breaking may be an important issue in natural processes. Applications of dissociative electron transfer concepts and models to mechanistic analysis in this class of enzymes will be discussed.     

Heisenberg’s chemical legacy: resonance and the chemical bond

Heisenberg’s explanation of how two coupled oscillators exchange energy represented a dramatic success for his new matrix mechanics. As matrix mechanics transmuted into wave mechanics, resulting in what Heisenberg himself described as “…an extraordinary broadening and enrichment of the formalism of the quantum theory”, the term resonance also experienced a corresponding evolution. Heitler and London’s seminal application of wave mechanics to explain the quantum origins of the covalent bond, combined with Pauling’s characterization of the effect, introduced resonance into the chemical lexicon. As the Valence Bond approach gave way to a soon-to-be dominant Molecular Orbital method, our understanding of the term resonance, as it might apply to our understanding the chemical bond, has also changed.     

Dissociative electron transfer reactions

We consider recent data on dissociative electron transfer reactions in which the electron transfer causes practically concerted dissociation of the chemical bond in the reagent. We discuss considerable experimental data on reactions in the gas phase and in solutions, and also existing theoretical models for describing the kinetics of these complex processes. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i éksperimental’naya Khimiya, Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 67–78, March–April, 1998.     

Low temperature carbene-to-carbene homologations

Since alkynes have higher symmetry than olefins, it is not easy to infer the mechanism of a triplet carbene’s addition to an alkyne by traditional product analysis studies. Specifically, no stereochemical information which might offer insight into the carbene’s spin state can be extracted from the cyclopropene products. In 1971, Hendrick, Baron, and Jones showed that diphenylcarbene reacts with terminal alkynes in solution to produce indenes via a “self-trapping” vinylcarbene. They also examined the diphenylcarbene reaction with disubstituted alkynes and found at most trace amounts of the “self-trapping” indene product. In this work, we report the direct observation by organic matrix EPR of the vinylcarbenes generated from triplet fluorenylidene and terminal alkynes. Our efforts to confirm the identities of these intermediates by independent synthesis, intermolecular trapping, and an intramolecular “self-trapping” method-halogen-migration-are also recounted. These findings are among the few instances in which fluorenylidene undergoes carbon-carbon bond formation rather than atom abstraction reactions in a low-temperature matrix, and in which the biradical adduct of a triplet carbene and a π-bonded substrate can be directly observed.     

Quantum-Chemical Study of Electroreduction Mechanism of Copper(I) Cyanide Complexes

Mechanism of electroreduction of copper(I) cyanide complexes from aqueous electrolytic solutions is studied within a quantum-chemical method of a density functional and a quantum-mechanical theory of charge transfer in polar environment. The electrochemically active form directly participating in an elementary electroreduction act is shown to be the [Cu(CN)₂]^– complex. Modeling calculations of the activation energy for an elementary charge transfer act reveal for the first time that the transfer of heavy particles along an adiabatic potential energy curve is a more probable mechanism of electroreduction of copper(I) cyanocomplexes than an outer-sphere electron transfer.     

Quantum-Chemical Study of “Hydride” Mobility in the Molecules of Chalcogenopyrans

An approach is proposed for the quantum-chemical investigation of “hydride ion” transfer based on analysis of the similarity of the order of variation in the ionization potentials, enthalpies, and free energies of affinity to the hydride ion, the hydrogen atom, and the proton in the substrate molecules and also the derivatives of their cations, radicals, and ions to the experimentally established “hydride” series. It was established that the experimental “hydride” mobility series of six chalcogenopyrans based on “semicyclic” 1,5-diketones agrees with the quantum-chemically calculated ionization potentials of the molecules and with the affinity of the respective radicals to the hydrogen atom participating in the transfer. It was found that direct removal of a hydride ion and initial deprotonation of the substrates followed by the removal of two electrons are unlikely. “Hydride” shift mechanisms, in which the first stage is transfer of an electron or hydrogen atom from the chalcogenopyran molecules, are feasible. __________ Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 9, pp. 1305–1311, September, 2005.     

Role of specifically adsorbed electrochemically inert species in electrode kinetics

The problem of statistical mechanical averaging for the probability of the elementary act of an irreversible electron transfer reaction occurring at a metal/solution interface in the presence of specifically adsorbed electrochemically inert ions or dipole molecules is discussed in detail. Analytical expressions are derived for the polarization curve of the interface in the cases of localization of the ionic reactant centers both inside and outside the compact part of the double layer. Within the framework of the theory presented the available experimental data on electrochemical kinetics complicated by the specific adsorption of charged and neutral components of the solution are analyzed.     

Photopolymerized silver-containing conducting polymer films. Part I. An electronic conductivity and cyclic voltammetric investigation

A photopolymerization process that simultaneously deposits electronically conducting polymer films and incorporates nanophase silver grains within the films, the silver grains having been formed in situ on irradiating cast, photopolymerizable formulations containing silver salts, was developed. Polymer films produced from formulations containing large organic anions were very flexible and strongly adherent to substrates. Polypyrrole films containing silver grains were characterized electronically on measuring their electronic conductivities and electrochemically on recording their cyclic voltammetric profiles. Conductivities were affected by the chemical identity and concentration of components added to photopolymerizable formulations. The best photopolymerized films had a conductivity of the order of 1 S cm⁻¹. Electronically conducting films derived from formulations consisting of a monomer, an electron acceptor/“dopant,” and a photoinitiator were electrochemically active. They possessed long-term stability under extended electrode potential cycling conditions, acceptable charge storage capacity, and the ability to oxidize or reduce redox couples in solution. Paper submitted for inclusion in the special issue of the Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry honouring the 85th birthday of Professor John O’M. Bockris.     

Diironcarbonyl-coumarin complex: preparation, intramolecular electron transfer, and electro-generation of hydrogen

A new organometallic complex coupling photoactive coumarin to a diironhexacarbonyl unit has been successfully prepared and its composition and electronic structure confirmed by elemental and spectroscopic analyses. Emission spectral analysis of the complex reveals photoinduced intramolecular electron transfer from coumarin to the iron-carbonyl moiety. The compound is electrochemically reduced at −1.24 V vs. Fc/Fc⁺. This reduction is irreversible, attesting to the instability of the complex. Electrochemical evolution of hydrogen in the presence of the complex has been studied and results are discussed.      

Voltammetry at spatially heterogeneous electrodes

Recent advances are overviewed which enable simulation of the voltammetric behaviour of surfaces which respond in an electrochemically spatially heterogeneous fashion. By use of the concept of a “diffusion domain” computationally expensive three-dimensional simulations may be reduced to tractable two-dimensional equivalents. In this way the electrochemical response of partially blocked electrodes and microelectrode arrays may be predicted, and are found to be consistent with experimental data. It is, furthermore, possible to adapt the “blocked” electrode analysis to enable the voltammetric sizing of inert particles present on an electrode surface. Finally theory of this type predicts the voltammetric behaviour of electrochemically heterogeneous electrodes—for example composites whose different spatial zones display contrasting electrochemical behaviour toward the same redox couple.     

Introducing hydrophilic carbon nanoparticles into hydrophilic sol-gel film electrodes

A hydrophilic carbon nanoparticle–sol-gel electrode with good electrical conductivity within the sol-gel matrix is prepared. Sulfonated carbon nanoparticles with high hydrophilicity and of 10–20 nm diameter (Emperor 2000) are co-deposited onto tin-doped indium oxide substrates employing a sol-gel technique. The resulting carbon nanoparticle-sol-gel composite electrodes are characterized as a function of composition and salt (KCl) additive. Scanning electron microscopy and voltammetry in the absence and in the presence of a solution redox system suggest that the composite electrode films can be made electrically conducting and highly porous to promote electron transport and transfer. The effect of the presence of hydrophilic carbon nanoparticles is explored for the following processes: (1) double layer charging, (2) diffusion and adsorption of the electrochemically reversible solution redox system 1,1′-ferrocenedimethanol, (3) electron transfer to the electrochemically irreversible redox system hydrogen peroxide, and (4) electron transfer to the redox liquid tert-butylferrocene deposited into the porous composite electrode film. The extended electrochemically active hydrophilic surface area is beneficial in particular for surface sensitive processes (1) and (3), and it provides an extended solid|organic liquid|aqueous solution boundary for reaction (4). The carbon nanoparticle–sol-gel composite electrodes are optimized to provide good electrical conductivity and to remain stable during electrochemical investigation.     

Island formation in chemisorption 2. Chemisorption kinetics

Influence of “direct” and “indirect” pathways of dissociative chemisorption on the form of kinetic dependences ϕ(MCS) and S(ϕ) was studied by the Monte Carlo method. Langmuir adsorption observed at S_indir/S_dir≤0.1 gradually changes to island-mediated adsorption with an increase of the “indirect” adsorption contribution at 0.1≤S_indir/S_dir≤1.0. At S_indir/S_dir≥1.0 the island-mediated adsorption dominates: large adsorption islands arise and gradually grow.     

Island formation in chemisorption 1. Chemisorption model

A model of dissociative chemisorption on a surface with a square lattice was studied using the Monte Carlo method. The model is based on two chemisorption pathways: “direct”—nucleation of adsorption islands, and “indirect”—their growth. The development of the surface distribution picture of chemisorbed particles was found to depend significantly on the contribution of these two pathways (S_indir/S_dir).     

Evaluation of the “radical sink” hypothesis from a chemical-kinetic viewpoint

Radicals produced in cellular systems are frequently “repaired” by thiols, but the sulphur-centred (thiyl) radical resulting has to “sink” its unpaired electron in other reactions. It has been suggested that superoxide is the major radical sink, via thiyl conjugation with thiolate and electron transfer to oxygen. It is argued here, from chemical kinetic data largely obtained by pulse radiolysis methods, that ascorbate probably provides the major radical sink when radicals are produced in most mammalian tissues at typical physiological pH.     

Secondary structure of crystals

Published experimental data on the dependence of the properties of crystal substances on crystal size are discussed. The dependence is of the same form for different properties and different crystal substances. When the crystal diminishes in size, its properties remain constant until the size decreases to 10⁻⁵–10⁻⁶ cm; smaller crystals considerably change their properties. It is shown that the currently available experimental data are sufficient to substantiate the notion of an “elementary unit of a solid crystal” (“crystal quantum”). The elementary unit of a crystal is regarded as a basis for the secondary structure (macrostructure) of a solid and an elementary carrier of its “crystal” properties. Due to this notion, we can interpret the vast experimental material on the real structures and properties of solids from a single viewpoint. Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Translated fromZhurnal Strukturnoi Khimii, Vol. 36, No. 4, pp. 724–730, July–August, 1995. Translated by L. Smolina     

Metrology and protometrology: the ordinal question

Laboratory medicine provides results for quantities as well as for properties having no magnitude. The terminology of the latter is less well established and sources are contradictory. Two recent papers on “protometrology” published in this journal offer an opportunity to discuss the necessary concept systems. The delineations of “metrology” versus “protometrology”, “observation” versus “measurement”, and the generic division of “property” are examined with emphasis on avoiding conflict with the International Vocabulary of Metrology. It is suggested that having “examination” as a top generic concept coupled with systematic modifiers for division, especially ‘nominal’ and ‘ordinal’, is a preferable terminological solution.

On the Dynamics of the Carbon–Bromine Bond Dissociation in the 1-Bromo-2-Methylnaphthalene Radical Anion

This paper studies the mechanism of electrochemically induced carbon–bromine dissociation in 1-Br-2-methylnaphalene in the reduction regime. In particular, the bond dissociation of the relevant radical anion is disassembled at a molecular level, exploiting quantum mechanical calculations including steady-state, equilibrium and dissociation dynamics via dynamic reaction coordinate (DRC) calculations. DRC is a molecular-dynamic-based calculation relying on an ab initio potential surface. This is to achieve a detailed picture of the dissociation process in an elementary molecular detail. From a thermodynamic point of view, all the reaction paths examined are energetically feasible. The obtained results suggest that the carbon halogen bond dissociates following the first electron uptake follow a stepwise mechanism. Indeed, the formation of the bromide anion and an organic radical occurs. The latter reacts to form a binaphthalene intrinsically chiral dimer. This paper is respectfully dedicated to Professors Anny Jutand and Christian Amatore for their outstanding contribution in the field of electrochemical catalysis and electrosynthesis.     

An impedance immunosensor for the detection of the phytohormone abscisic acid

The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) is the major player in mediating the adaptation of plants to stress. Previously developed phytohormonal biosensors usually employed indirect detection of the products of conjugated oxidase reactions. A label-free electrochemical impedance immunosensor for ABA detection was developed using an anti-ABA antibody adsorbed directly on a porous nanogold film. The film was produced electrochemically on a glassy carbon electrode in 0.008 mol/L hydrogen tetrachloroaurate solution containing 0.004 mol/L lead acetate with an applied potential of −0.5 V (versus Ag/AgCl) for 50 s. The anti-ABA antibody was immobilized onto the porous nanogold through electrostatic adsorption and covalent conjugation. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to characterize the successful construction of the porous nanogold film and the stepwise modification of the glassy carbon electrode. The concentration increase of the antigen brought about a decrease of the interfacial electron transfer, which also meant an increase of the impedance signal. The experimental parameters pH, antibody incubation time, and antibody concentration were optimized. The results showed significant linearity R = 0.9942, with the content of ABA in the range 0.5–5,000 ng/mL with a detection limit at about 0.1 ng/mL.