Ions Can Move a Proton‐Coupled Electron‐Transfer Reaction into Tunneling Regime

The effects of charged species on proton‐coupled electron‐transfer (PCET) reaction should be of significance for understanding/application of important chemical and biological PCET systems. Such species can be found in proximity of activated complex in a PCET reaction, although they are not involved in the charge transfer process. Reported here is the first study of the above‐mentioned effects. Here, the effects of Na⁺, K⁺, Li⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, and Me₄N⁺ observed in PCET reaction of ascorbate monoanions with hexacyanoferrate(III) ions in H₂O reveal that, in presence of ions, this over‐the‐barrier reaction entered into tunneling regime. The observations are: a) dependence of the rate constant on the cation concentration, where the rate constant is 71 (at I = 0.0023), and 821 (at 0.5M K⁺), 847 (at 1.0M Na⁺), and 438 M ^?1 s^?1 (at 0.011M Ca²⁺); b) changes of kinetic isotope effect (KIE) in the presence of ions, where k_H/k_D=4.6 (at I = 0.0023), and 3.4 (in the presence of 0.5M K⁺), 3.3 (at 1.0M Na⁺), 3.9 (at 0.001M Ca²⁺), and 3.9 (at 0.001M Mg²⁺), respectively; c) the isotope effects on Arrhenius pre‐factor where A_H/A_D=0.97 (0.15) in absence of ions, and 2.29 (0.60) (at 0.5M Na⁺), 1.77 (0.29) (at 1.0M Na⁺), 1.61 (0.25) (at 0.5M K⁺), 0.42 (0.16) (at 0.001M Ca²⁺) and 0.16 (0.19) (at 0.001M Mg²⁺); d) isotope differences in the enthalpies of activation in H₂O and in D₂O, where ΔΔH^?(D,H)=3.9 (0.4) kJ mol^?1 in the absence of cations, 1.3 (0.6) at 0.5M Na⁺, 1.8 (0.4) at 0.5M K⁺, 1.5 (0.4) at 1.0M Na⁺, 5.5 (0.9) (at 0.001M Ca²⁺), and 7.9 (2.8) (at 0.001M Mg²⁺) kJ mol^?1; e) nonlinear proton inventory in reaction. In the H₂O/dioxane 1 : 1, the observed KIE is 7.8 and 4.4 in the absence and in the presence of 0.1M K⁺, respectively, and A_H/A_D=0.14 (0.03). The changes when cations are present in the reaction are explained in terms of termolecular encounter complex consisting of redox partners, and the cation where the cation can be found in a near proximity of the reaction‐activated complex thus influencing the proton/electron double tunneling event in the PCET process. A molecule of H₂O is involved in the transition state. The resulting ‘configuration’ is more ‘rigid’ and more appropriate for efficient tunneling with Na⁺ or K⁺ (extensive tunneling observed), i.e., there is more precise organized H transfer coordinate than in the case of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ (moderate tunneling observed) in the reaction.