Electron transfer reactions catalyzed by the iron-sulfur cluster, (n-Bu 4N) 2[Fe 4S 4(SCH 2CONH 2) 4], in 90% DMF-10% H 2O

Abstract

The synthetic iron-sulfur cluster, (n-Bu 4N) 2[Fe 4S 4(SCH 2CONH 2) 4] was newly prepared and its catalytic effect on the electron transfer reaction was investigated. The results demonstrated that the present iron-sulfur cluster actually accelerated the electron transfer reactions from a mercaptan to various types of organic electron acceptors in homogeneous DMF-H 2O solution. The linear free energy relationship which was found between the redox potentials of the acceptors and the reaction rates suggested that a single-electron transfer mechanism operated in the reactions of electron acceptors having fairly wide range of redox potentials.