PNNL

Abstract

Studies of the role of proton relays in molecular catalysts for the electrocatalytic production and oxidation of H2 have been carried out. The electrochemical production of hydrogen from protonated DMF solutions catalyzed by [Ni(P2PhN2Ph)2(CH3CN)](BF4)2, 3a, (where P2PhN2Ph is 1,3,5,7-tetraphenyl-1,5-diaza-3,7-diphosphacyclooctane) permits a limiting value of the H2 production rate to be determined. The turnover frequency of 350 s-1 establishes that the rate of H2 production for the mononuclear nickel catalyst 3a is comparable to those observed for Ni-Fe hydrogenase enzymes. In the electrochemical oxidation of hydrogen catalyzed by [Ni(P2CyN2Bz)2](BF4)2, 3b, (where Cy is cyclohexyl and Bz is benzyl), the initial step is the reversible addition of hydrogen to 3b (Keq = 190 atm-1 at 25oC). The hydrogen addition product exists as three nearly iso-energetic isomers 4A-C, which have been identified by a combination of one and two dimensional 1H, 31P and 15N NMR spectroscopies as Ni(0) complexes with a protonated amine in each cyclic ligand. The nature of the isomers, together with calculations, suggest a mode of hydrogen activation that involves a symmetrical interaction of a nickel dihydrogen ligand with two amine bases in the diphosphine ligands. Single deprotonation of 4 by an external base results in a rearrangement to [HNi(P2CyN2Bz)2](BF4), 5, and this reaction is reversed by the addition of a proton to the nickel hydride complex. The small energy differences associated with significantly different distributions in electron density and protons within these molecules may contribute to their high catalytic activity. This work was supported by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences of the US Department of Energy. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for the US Department of Energy.