From mononuclear iron phthalocyanines in catalysis to μ-nitrido diiron complexes and beyond

Abstract

For a long time biomimetic oxidation catalysis was mainly associated with metal porphyrin complexes. Phthalocyanine complexes, also belonging to large family of macrocyclic complexes have been under-investigated as catalysts until recently. In this review, we present the development of phthalocyanine catalytic chemistry at IRCELYON with a topical focus on contributions from our group during last 20 years and discuss recent research directions from personal perspective. Catalytic chemistry of phthalocyanine complexes is a rapidly growing field including not only oxidations but also many other reactions. Recent discovery of remarkable catalytic properties of μ-nitrido diiron phthalocyanines will give a new impetus and should even accelerate this development. These binuclear N-bridged complexes emerge as promising bio-inspired catalysts, in particular, for challenging reactions such as a low temperature oxidation of methane and oxidative defluorination of heavily fluorinated aromatic compounds. The scope of their catalytic applications is constantly increasing. The bimetallic construction is flexible and has a significant potential for further development including implementation of different ligands, metals and bridging groups. Consequently, the properties of this scaffold can be fine-tuned by platform architecture thus providing novel tools for catalysis.