Torbjörn Åkermark

Photosensitized water oxidation by use of a bioinspired manganese catalyst

In an artificial version of photosynthesis, sunlight and water are used to produce fuels. Our research focuses on the bottleneck in this process, the photooxidation of water. In the course of developing a water oxidation catalyst, a number of metal complexes have been synthesised, characterised, and studied for catalytic activity. Three of them are dinuclear complexes (Ru, Co and Cu) of 2,6-bis[(2-hydroxybenzyl)-(2-pyridylmethyl)aminomethyl]-4-methylphenol (H3bbpmp). The fourth is a dimeric Ru complex with a ligand containing imidazole and phenol motifs. Additionally, a dinuclear Mn complex with a ligand that contains benzimidazoles and carboxylates coordinating to the metal atoms was also developed. This Mn complex was then covalently linked to [Ru(bpy)3]2+-type photosensitisers, resulting in three different bimetallic dyads. Finally, a dinuclear Fe complex containing the same ligand as the dinuclear Mn complex was synthesised.The potential of the three H3bbpmp complexes as catalysts for oxidation of organic compounds was investigated and it was found that the Ru complex catalyses the oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding ketone or aldehyde using (diacetoxyiodo)benzene as oxidant. The Co complex functions as an electron transfer mediator in a coupled catalytic system for allylic oxidation using oxygen gas. The oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol to the corresponding ortho-quinone with oxygen gas using the copper complex proved that it can be considered as a model of catecholase. The dimeric Ru complex and the dinuclear Mn and Fe complexes proved to catalyse water oxidation when employing stoichiometric amounts of the oxidant [Ru(bpy)3](PF6)3. Furthermore, using [Ru(bpy)2(deeb)](PF6)2 as photosensitiser together with Na2S2O8 as sacrificial electron acceptor in aqueous phosphate buffer at pH = 7.2, photochemical water oxidation was demonstrated. The bimetallic dyads however, did not show catalytic activity for the oxidation of water.

Water Oxidation by Single-Site Ruthenium Complexes : Using Ligands as Redox and Proton Transfer Mediators

Water Oxidation by Single-Site Ruthenium Complexes : Using Ligands as Redox and Proton Transfer Mediators

A tailor-made molecular ruthenium catalyst for the oxidation of water and its deactivation through poisoning by carbon monoxide.

A Tailor-Made Molecular Ruthenium Catalyst for the Oxidation of Water and Its Deactivation through Poisoning by Carbon Monoxide

Dinuclear manganese complexes for water oxidation : evaluation of electronic effects and catalytic activity

During recent years significant progress has been made towards the realization of a sustainable and carbon-neutral energy economy. One promising approach is photochemical splitting of H2O into O2 and solar fuels, such as H2. However, the bottleneck in such artificial photosynthetic schemes is the H2O oxidation half reaction where more efficient catalysts are required that lower the kinetic barrier for this process. In particular catalysts based on earth-abundant metals are highly attractive compared to catalysts comprised of noble metals. We have now synthesized a library of dinuclear Mn2(II,III) catalysts for H2O oxidation and studied how the incorporation of different substituents affected the electronics and catalytic efficiency. It was found that the incorporation of a distal carboxyl group into the ligand scaffold resulted in a catalyst with increased catalytic activity, most likely because of the fact that the distal group is able to promote proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) from the high-valent Mn species, thus facilitating O-O bond formation.

Light-Induced Water Oxidation by a Ru complex Containing a Bio-Inspired Ligand

The new Ru complex 8 containing the bio-inspired ligand 7 was successfully synthesized and characterized. Complex 8 efficiently catalyzes water oxidation using Ce(IV) and Ru(III) as chemical oxidants. More importantly, this complex has a sufficiently low overpotential to utilize ruthenium polypyridyl-type complexes as photosensitizers.

Attachment of a Hydrogen‐Bonding Carboxylate Side Chain to an [FeFe]‐Hydrogenase Model Complex: Influence on the Catalytic Mechanism

Azapropanedithiolate (adt)-bridged model complexes of [FeFe]-hydrogenase bearing a carboxylic acid functionality have been designed with the aim of decreasing the potential for reduction of protons to hydrogen. Protonation of the bisphosphine complexes 4-6 has been studied by in situ IR and NMR spectroscopy, which revealed that protonation with triflic acid most likely takes place first at the N-bridge for complex 4 but at the Fe-Fe bond for complexes 5 and 6. Using an excess of acid, the diprotonated species could also be observed, but none of the protonated species was sufficiently stable to be isolated in a pure state. Electrochemical studies have provided an insight into the catalytic mechanisms under strongly acidic conditions, and have also shown that complexes 3 and 6 are electro-active in aqueous solution even in the absence of acid, presumably due to hydrogen bonding. Hydrogen evolution, driven by visible light, has been observed for three-component systems consisting of [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+), complex 1, 2, or 3, and ascorbic acid in CH(3)CN/D(2)O solution by on-line mass spectrometry.

Synthesis and Catalytic Water Oxidation Activities of Ruthenium Complexes Containing Neutral Ligands

Two dinuclear and one mononuclear ruthenium complexes containing neutral polypyridyl ligands have been synthesised as pre-water oxidation catalysts and characterised by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy and ESI-MS. Their catalytic water oxidation properties in the presence of [Ce(NH(4))(2)(NO(3))(6)] (Ce(IV)) as oxidant at pH 1.0 have been investigated. At low concentrations of Ce(IV) (5 mM), high turnover numbers of up to 4500 have been achieved. An (18)O-labelling experiment established that both O atoms in the evolved O(2) originate from water. Combined electrochemical study and electrospray ionisation mass spectrometric analysis suggest that ligand exchange between coordinated 4-picoline and free water produces Ru aquo species as the real water oxidation catalysts.

Investigation of the palladium catalyzed aromatic coupling of pyridine derivatives

Abstract The coupling reaction of 4-methylpyridine to form 4,4′-dimethyl-2,2′-bipyridine using a carbon-supported palladium catalyst was studied. Whereas previous research indicated that the reaction is catalyzed by palladium(0), we have found evidence that the reaction is catalyzed by palladium(II). Although oxygen can be used as the oxidative agent, the reaction is ultimately limited by catalyst deactivation. The major source of deactivation is most likely depletion of the palladium(II) oxide. The catalyst is reduced during the reaction and in the case of the oxygen-treated catalyst a small amount of palladium appears to be dissolved. In an investigation of the catalyst using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) it was found that deactivation is also caused by poisoning, the poison being either the product and/or the by-product.

Molecular ruthenium water oxidation catalysts carrying non-innocent ligands: mechanistic insight through structure–activity relationships and quantum chemical calculations

Robust catalysts that mediate H2O oxidation are of fundamental importance for the development of novel carbon-neutral energy technologies. Herein we report the synthesis of a group of single-site Ru complexes. Structure–activity studies revealed that the individual steps in the oxidation of H2O depended differently on the electronic properties of the introduced ligand substituents. The mechanistic details associated with these complexes were investigated experimentally along with quantum chemical calculations. It was found that O–O bond formation for the developed Ru complexes proceeds via high-valent RuVI species, where the capability of accessing this species is derived from the non-innocent ligand architecture. This cooperative catalytic involvement and the ability of accessing RuVI are intriguing and distinguish these Ru catalysts from a majority of previously reported complexes, and might generate unexplored reaction pathways for activation of small molecules such as H2O.

Well‐Defined Palladium Nanoparticles Supported on Siliceous Mesocellular Foam as Heterogeneous Catalysts for the Oxidation of Water

Herein, we describe the use of Pd nanoparticles immobilized on an amino-functionalized siliceous mesocellular foam for the catalytic oxidation of H2O. The Pd nanocatalyst proved to be capable of mediating the four-electron oxidation of H2O to O2, both chemically and photochemically. The Pd nanocatalyst is easy to prepare and shows high chemical stability, low leaching, and recyclability. Together with its promising catalytic activity, these features make the Pd nanocatalyst of potential interest for future sustainable solar-fuel production.