Tuning Electron-Transfer Reactivity of a Chromium(III)–Superoxo Complex Enabled by Calcium Ion and Other Redox-Inactive Metal Ions

Abstract

Calcium ion plays an indispensable role for water oxidation by oxygen-evolving complex (OEC) composed of a manganese-oxo cluster (Mn4CaO5) in Photosystem II. In this context, the effects of Ca2+ ion and other redox-inactive metal ions on the redox reactivity of high-valent metal-oxo and metal-peroxo complexes have been studied extensively. Among metal-oxygen intermediates involved in interconversion between H2O and O2, however, the effects of Ca2+ ion and other redox-inactive metal ions (Mn+) on the redox reactivity of metal-superoxo complexes have yet to be reported. Herein, we report that electron transfer (ET) from octamethylferrocene (Me8Fc) to a mononuclear nonheme Cr(III)-superoxo complex, [(Cl)(TMC)CrIII(O2)]+ (1), occurs in the presence of redox-inactive metal ions (Mn+ = Ca2+, Mg2+, Y3+, Al3+, and Sc3+); in the absence of the redox-inactive metal ions, ET from Me8Fc to 1 does not occur. The second-order rate constants (ket) of ET from Me8Fc to 1 in the presence of a redox-inactive metal ion increased with increasing concentration of Mn+ ([Mn+]), exhibiting a second-order dependence on [Mn+]: ket = kMCET[Mn+]2, where kMCET is the fourth-order rate constant of metal ion-coupled electron transfer (MCET). This means that two Mn+ ions are bound to the one-electron reduced species of 1. Such a binding of two Mn+ ions associated with the ET reduction of 1 resulted in a 92 mV positive shift of the one-electron reduction potential of 1 (Ered) with increasing log([Mn+]). The log kMCET values increased linearly with the increasing Lewis acidity of Mn+ (ΔE), which was determined from the g values of O2•--Mn+ complexes. The driving force dependence of log ket of MCET from ferrocene derivatives to 1 in the presence of Mn+ has been well-evaluated in light of the Marcus theory of electron transfer.