Electro- and Photoinduced Interfacial Charge Transfers in Nanocrystalline Mesoporous TiO2 and TiO2/Iron Porphyrin Sensitized Films under CO2 Reduction Catalysis.

Electro- and photochemical CO2 reduction (CO2R) is the quintessence of modern-day sustainable research. We report our studies on the electro- and photoinduced interfacial charge transfer occurring in a nanocrystalline mesoporous TiO2 film and two TiO2/iron porphyrin hybrid films (meso-aryl- and ß-pyrrole-substituted porphyrins, respectively) under CO2R conditions. We used transient absorption spectroscopy (TAS) to demonstrate that, under 355 nm laser excitation and an applied voltage bias (0 to -0.8 V vs Ag/AgCl), the TiO2 film exhibited a diminution in the transient absorption (at -0.5 V by 35%), as well as a reduction of the lifetime of the photogenerated electrons (at -0.5 V by 50%) when the experiments were conducted under a CO2 atmosphere changing from inert N2. The TiO2/iron porphyrin films showed faster charge recombination kinetics, featuring 100-fold faster transient signal decays than that of the TiO2 film. The electro-, photo-, and photoelectrochemical CO2R performance of the TiO2 and TiO2/iron porphyrin films are evaluated within the bias range of -0.5 to -1.8 V vs Ag/AgCl. The bare TiO2 film produced CO and CH4 as well as H2, depending on the applied voltage bias. In contrast, the TiO2/iron porphyrin films showed the exclusive formation of CO (100% selectivity) under identical conditions. During the CO2R, a gain in the overpotential values is obtained under light irradiation conditions. This finding was indicative of a direct transfer of the photogenerated electrons from the film to absorbed CO2 molecules and an observed decrease in the decay of the TAS signals. In the TiO2/iron porphyrin films, we identified the interfacial charge recombination processes between the oxidized iron porphyrin and the electrons of the TiO2 conduction band. These competitive processes are considered to be responsible for the diminution of direct charge transfer between the film and the adsorbed CO2 molecules, explaining the moderate performances of the hybrid films for the CO2R.

On the Existence and Role of Formaldehyde During Aqueous Electrochemical Reduction of Carbon Monoxide to Methanol by Cobalt Phthalocyanine.

A long-time challenge in aqueous CO2 electrochemical reduction is to catalyze the formation of products beyond carbon monoxide with selectivity. Formaldehyde is the simplest of these products and one of the most relevant due to its broad use in the industry. Paradoxically it is one of the less reported product. Such scarcity may be in part explained by difficult identification and quantification using conventional chromatography or proton nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. Likewise, indirect detection methods are usually not compatible with labelled studies for asserting product origin. Recently, the possible production of formaldehyde during electrochemical reduction of carbon monoxide to methanol at cobalt phthalocyanine molecular catalyst in basic media has been the object of contradictory reports. By applying an analytical procedure based on proton NMR along with labelled studies, we provide definitive evidence for HCHO formation. We have further identified the possible scenarios for methanol formation through formaldehyde and revealed that the formation of the intermediate and its subsequent reduction are taking place at the same single active site. These studies open a new perspective to improve selectivity toward formaldehyde formation and to develop a subsequent chemistry based on reacting it with nucleophiles.

Manifesto for the routine use of NMR for the liquid product analysis of aqueous CO2 reduction: from comprehensive chemical shift data to formaldehyde quantification in water.

CO2 reduction research is at a critical turnaround since it has the potential to partially or even substantially fulfil future clean energy needs. CO2-to-CO electrochemical conversion is getting closer from industrial implementation requirements. Efforts are now more and more directed to obtain highly reduced products such as methanol, methane, ethylene, ethanol, etc., most of them being liquids. Gas-phase products (e.g., CO, CH4) are typically detected and quantified by well-defined gas chromatography (GC and GC/MS) protocols. On the other hand, NMR, GC-MS, HPLC have been used for the liquid phase characterization, but no routine technique has yet been established, mainly due to lack of versatility of a single technique. Additionally, except NMR and GC-MS, classical techniques cannot distinguish 13C from 12C products, although it is a mandatory step to assess products origin. Herein, we show the efficiency and applicability of 1H NMR as routine technique for liquid phase products analysis and we address two previous shortcomings. We first established a comprehensive 1H and 13C NMR chemical shifts list for all 12CO2 and 13CO2 reduction products in water ranging from C1 to C3. Then we overcame the difficulty of identifying aqueous formaldehyde intermediate by 1H NMR through an efficient chemical trapping step, along with isotopic signature study. Formaldehyde can be reliably quantified in water with a concentration as low as 50 µM.

Calixsmaragdyrin: A Versatile Ligand for Coordination Complexes.

The Ru(II) and BF2 complexes of calixsmaragdyrin were prepared under simple reaction conditions and characterized by HR-MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy, optical spectroscopy, and electrochemistry, and the structure of the Ru(II) complex of calixsmaragdyrin was elucidated by X-ray crystallography. The crystal structure of the Ru(II) complex revealed that the Ru(II) ion is hexacoordinate with the three pyrrole nitrogen ligands from the tripyrrin unit of the calixsmaragdyrin macrocycle, and the remaining coordination sites of Ru(II) ion were occupied by two carbonyl groups and one hydroxyl (-OH) group. The calixsmaragdyrin macrocycle in the Ru(II) complex was distorted with a dome-like structure. In the BF2 complex of calixsmaragdyrin, the BF2 unit was bound to two pyrrolic nitrogens of the dipyrrin moiety of calixsmaragdyrin as deduced by detailed 1- and 2-dimensional NMR spectroscopy studies. The Ru(II) complex displayed a strong Soret-like absorption band at 449 nm with the absence of Q-bands, whereas the BF2 complex showed a Soret-like band at 475 nm with two well-defined Q-bands at 787 and 883 nm, respectively. Quantum mechanical DFT calculations yielded relaxed equilibrium structures that were similar to the X-ray crystal structures, and the related charge density distributions indicated that the d orbital of the Ru(II) ion was contributing to the HOMO and LUMO states. In addition, TD-DFT calculations successfully reproduced the large bathochromic shifts, oscillator strengths, and electronic transitions that were observed in the experimental absorption spectra of all three complexes. Both the Ru(II) and the BF2 complexes of calixsmaragdyrin were stable under redox conditions.

Smaragdyrins and Sapphyrins Analogues.

Porphyrins and expanded porphyrins have attracted the attention of chemists for a long time in view of their diverse applications in catalysis; as anion, cation, and neutral substrate receptors; as ligands to coordinate large metal ions; as nonlinear optical materials, MRI contrasting agents, and sensitizers for photodynamic therapy (PDT); and more recently as models for aromaticity (both Hückel and Möbius). A diverse range of synthetic expanded porphyrins containing up to 96π electrons have been reported, and their properties have been exploited for various applications. The present Review is only confined to 22π electron expanded porphyrins containing five pyrrole/heterocyclic rings such as sapphyrins and smaragdyrins. Even though these two macrocycles contain 22π electrons and five pyrrole/heterocyclic rings, they are structurally different. In sapphyrins, the five pyrrole/heterocyclic rings are connected through four meso-carbon bridges and one direct pyrrole-pyrrole bond, whereas in smaragdyrins, the five pyrrole/heterocyclic rings are connected through three meso-carbon bridges and two direct pyrrole-pyrrole bonds. The chemistry of sapphyrins has been well-established in recent years due to the availability of easy and efficient synthetic methods. On the other hand, smaragdyrins are not explored significantly because of their unstable nature. However, recently it was shown that smaragdyrins can be stabilized if one of the pyrrole rings is replaced with a furan ring to afford stable oxasmaragdyrin. The availability of oxasmaragdyrin allowed the exploration of smaragdyrin in recent years. Thus, an attempt has been made in this Review to describe the chemistry of both sapphyrins and smaragdyrins in terms of their synthesis, characterization, metal ion coordination, and anion-recognition properties.

Heteroatom-Containing Porphyrin Analogues.

The heteroatom-containing porphyrin analogues or core-modified porphyrins that resulted from the replacement of one or two pyrrole rings with other five-membered heterocycles such as furan, thiophene, selenophene, tellurophene, indene, phosphole, and silole are highly promising macrocycles and exhibit quite different physicochemical properties compared to regular azaporphyrins. The properties of heteroporphyrins depend on the nature and number of different heterocycle(s) present in place of pyrrole ring(s). The heteroporphyrins provide unique and unprecedented coordination environments for metals. Unlike regular porphyrins, the monoheteroporphyrins are known to stabilize metals in unusual oxidation states such as Cu and Ni in +1 oxidation states. The diheteroporphyrins, which are neutral macrocycles without ionizable protons, also showed interesting coordination chemistry. Thus, significant progress has been made in last few decades on core-modified porphyrins in terms of their synthesis, their use in building multiporphyrin arrays for light-harvesting applications, their use as ligands to form interesting metal complexes, and also their use for several other studies. The synthetic methods available in the literature allow one to prepare mono- and diheteroporphyrins and their functionalized derivatives, which were used extensively to prepare several covalent and noncovalent heteroporphyrin-based multiporphyrin arrays. The methods are also developed to synthesize different hetero analogues of porphyrin derivatives such as heterocorroles, heterochlorins, heterocarbaporphyrinoids, heteroatom-substituted confused porphyrins, and so on. This Review summarizes the key developments that have occurred in heteroporphyrin chemistry over the last four decades.

Synthesis and Quantum Mechanical Studies of a Highly Stable Ferrocene-Incorporated Expanded Porphyrin.

We present the first evidence for an unusual stable metallocene-containing expanded porphyrinoid macrocycle that was synthesized by condensing one equivalent of 1,1'-bis[phenyl(2-pyrroyl)methyl]ferrocene with one equivalent of 5,10-di(p-tolyl)-16-oxa-15,17-dihydrotripyrrane under acid-catalyzed conditions. The formation of ferrocene-incorporated expanded porphyrin macrocycle was confirmed by HR-MS and 1D/2D NMR spectroscopy. The macrocycle was nonaromatic and displayed absorption bands in the region of 420-550 nm. The molecular and electronic structure of the ferrocene-incorporated expanded porphyrin was investigated by DFT methods. The DFT calculations indicated a partially twisted structure of the molecule, and the extent of torsional distortion was larger than previously observed for ruthenocenoporphyrinoids and ferrocenothiaporphyrin. The HOMO and LUMO states that were obtained from the DFT calculations indicated partial charge density on all four pyrrole nitrogen atoms and the furanyl oxygen atom in the HOMO state and partial charge density on the α and ß carbon atoms in the LUMO state. In addition, the ferrocene moiety displayed the presence of partial charge density on the Fe atom and the cp rings in both the HOMO and LUMO states. Moreover, DFT studies of the diprotonated form of macrocycle indicated that the diprotonated form also retained a synclinal conformation and that its torsional strain was slightly higher than its free base form.

Stabilization of hexa-coordinated P(v) corroles by axial silyloxy groups.

We report the stabilization of the hexa-coordination environment for P(v) corroles by using alkyl/aryl substituted silyloxy groups as axial ligands. The P(v) corroles are highly fluorescent in a hexa-coordination environment compared to in a penta-coordination environment. However, P(v) corroles generally undergo axial ligand dissociation to form a mixture of penta- and hexa-coordinated P(v) corroles in non-coordinating solvents such as toluene, CH2Cl2, CHCl3. The usage of moderately bulkier and electron-donating silyloxy groups helps to restrict the axial ligand dissociation of silyloxy substituted hexa-coordinated P(v) corroles in non-coordinating solvents. The crystal structure confirmed the hexa-coordination geometry for the P(v) corroles. The P(v) corroles strongly absorb and emit in the visible region, with decent quantum yields and singlet state lifetimes. The hexa-coordinated P(v) corroles are highly stable under electrochemical conditions.

Synthesis, structure, and spectral, electrochemical and fluoride sensing properties of meso-pyrrolyl boron dipyrromethene.

meso-Pyrrolyl boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) was prepared under simple reaction conditions by using commercially available chemicals. Prior to this work, the BODIPY compound was prepared in multiple steps by using precursors which were not readily available. The X-ray structure of BODIPY revealed that the meso-pyrrole ring is tilted towards the BF2-dipyrrin moiety with a dihedral angle of 33.94°. The reactivity of the meso-pyrrole ring of BODIPY was tested by subjecting it to bromination and formylation reactions, which afforded (α-bromopyrrolyl) BODIPY and (α-formylpyrrolyl) BODIPY in decent yields. The (α-formylpyrrolyl) BODIPY was used to prepare the pyrrole bridged BODIPY dyad. The pyrrole bridged BODIPY dyad exhibited a 15-20 nm bathochromic shift in the absorption band and was weakly fluorescent compared to meso-pyrrolyl BODIPY. Furthermore, our studies show that the meso-pyrrolyl BODIPY can be used as a specific sensor for F(-) ions because of the presence of meso-pyrrole NH which is involved in interactions with F(-) ions. To prove that meso-pyrrole NH is involved in sensing F(-) ions, we also prepared meso-(N-methylpyrrolyl)-BODIPY and characterized it by various spectroscopic techniques and crystallography. Our studies reveal that meso-(N-methylpyrrolyl)-BODIPY does not sense F(-) ions, supporting the involvement of meso-pyrrole NH in sensing F(-) ions.

Directly Connected AzaBODIPY-BODIPY Dyad: Synthesis, Crystal Structure, and Ground- and Excited-State Interactions.

Directly connected, strongly interacting sensitizer donor-acceptor dyads mimic light-induced photochemical events of photosynthesis. Here, we devised a dyad composed of BF2-chelated dipyrromethene (BODIPY) directly linked to BF2-chelated tetraarylazadipyrromethene (azaBODIPY) through the ß-pyrrole position of azaBODIPY. Structural integrity of the dyad was arrived from two-dimensional NMR spectral studies, while single-crystal X-ray structure of the dyad provided the relative orientation of the two macrocycles to be ∼62°. Because of direct linking of the two entities, ultrafast energy transfer from the (1)BODIPY* to azaBODIPY was witnessed. A good agreement between the theoretically estimated Förster energy transfer rate and experimentally determined rate was observed, and this rate was found to be higher than that reported for BODIPY-azaBODIPY analogues connected with spacer units. In agreement with the free-energy calculations, the product of energy transfer, (1)azaBODIPY* revealed additional photochemical events such as electron transfer leading to the creation of BODIPY(•+)-azaBODIPY(•-) radical ion pair, more so in polar benzonitrile than in nonpolar toluene, as evidenced by femtosecond transient spectroscopic studies. Additionally, the spectral, electrochemical, and photochemical studies of the precursor compound azaBODIPY-dipyrromethane also revealed occurrence of excited-state events. In this case, electron transfer from the (1)azaBODIPY* to dipyrromethane (DPM) yielded DPM(•+)-azaBODIPY(•-) charge-separated state. The study described here stresses the role of close association of the donor and acceptor entities to promote ultrafast photochemical events, applicable of building fast-response optoelectronic and energy-harvesting devices.

Synthesis, structure, and Hg(2+)-ion-sensing properties of stable calixazasmaragdyrins.

The first stable calixazasmaragdyrins containing two meso-sp(2) and one meso-sp(3) carbon atoms were synthesized by [3 + 2] condensation of 2,2'-(1-methylethylidene)bis(pyrrole) and 5,10-diaryltripyrromethane under trifluoroacetic acid catalyzed conditions. The macrocycles were confirmed by high-resolution mass spectrometry, and the molecular structures were deduced by detailed 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy. The single-crystal structural analysis showed the highly strained and distorted nature of a calixazasmaragdyrin macrocycle. The presence of the one meso-sp(3) carbon center induces sufficient flexibility into the macrocycle, which, in turn, helps with the stability of the calixazasmaragdyrin macrocycle. The calixazasmargdyrins showed one broad absorption band at ∼425 nm and an ill-defined band at ∼685 nm. The electrochemical studies revealed that the calixazasmaragdyrins are not stable under redox conditions. Because the calixazasmargdyrin macrocycle possesses five pyrrole rings with three ionizable inner NH protons, we investigated anion and cation sensing properties of calixazasmargdyrins. Our studies revealed that the calixazasmaragdyrins do not show any sensing behavior toward anions but exhibited specific sensing behavior toward Hg(2+) ions as verified by spectral and electrochemical studies.

Synthesis and specific fluoride binding properties of expanded dithiacalixphyrins.

Expanded dithiacalixphyrins with the N(2)S(2) core containing two sp(3) and three sp(2) meso-carbons have been prepared by condensation of one equivalent of butene-2,3-diyl-bisthiophene-2,5-diyl-bis(p-methoxyphenylmethanol) with one equivalent of 5,5'-dialkyldipyrromethane under mild acid catalyzed conditions in decent yields. The expanded dithiacalixphyrins were characterized by HR-MS, 1D and 2D NMR techniques and the structure of one of the expanded dithiacalixphyrin macrocycles was solved by X-ray crystallography. The crystal structure analysis indicated that the macrocycle is highly distorted and attains a boat shaped structure. The expanded thiacalixphyrins showed a specific sensing ability for F(-) ions over other anions as judged from absorption, NMR and mass spectral studies.

Synthesis, structure, and catalytic activity of Pd(II) complex of calixoxasmaragdyrin.

The palladium(II) complex of calixoxasmaragdyrin was prepared in 80% yield by treating the free base calixoxasmaragdyrin with PdCl2 in CH3CN at reflux temperature. The crystal structure solved for Pd(II) calixoxasmaragdyrin indicates that the calixoxasmaragdyrin macrocycle is highly distorted and attained a boat shaped structure. The Pd(II) ion is coordinated to four pyrrolic nitrogens in square planar fashion, and it is placed at ~0.138 Å above from the four coordinating pyrrole nitrogens plane (N1N2N3N4). The Pd-N bond lengths are inequivalent, and the Pd(II) ion is positioned more toward the dipyrromethane moiety of calixoxasmaragdyrin. The complex shows one broad absorption band at 477 nm and is not very stable under redox conditions. The Pd(II) calixoxasmaragdyrin showed good catalytic activity in the Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling reactions.

Stable core-modified calixsmaragdyrins: synthesis, structure and specific sensing of the hydrogen sulfate ion.

Stable calixoxa- and calixthiasmaragdyrins containing three methine bridges and two direct bonds connecting the five pyrrole/heterocycle rings were synthesized by [3 + 2] condensation of dipyrromethane with 16-oxatripyrrane and 16-thiatripyrrane respectively under mild acid-catalyzed conditions. The compounds were characterized by HR-MS, 1D & 2D NMR, absorption and electrochemical techniques and the structure of calixoxasmaragdyrin was solved by X-ray crystallography. The crystal structure analysis indicated that the calixoxasmaragdyrin macrocycle was highly distorted due to the flexibility introduced by one sp(3)meso-carbon. The compounds show ill-defined absorption bands and irreversible oxidation and reduction waves which were attributed to the disruption of conjugation of the macrocycle by incorporation of one sp(3)meso-carbon. The anion binding studies indicated that the calixoxasmaragdyrin exhibited specific sensing ability for the HSO4(-) ion over other anions whereas calixthiasmaragdyrins did not even show an ability to bind anions.

Unusual formation of 21-oxacorrole from 21-oxaporphyrin induced by phosphoryl chloride.

An unusual formation of 21-oxacorrole from 21-oxaporphyrin by concomitant elimination of a meso-aryl group and ring contraction is reported.