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.