AbstractThe nucleophilic attack of water or hydroxide on metal‐oxo units forms an O−O bond in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Coordination tuning to improve this attack is intriguing but has been rarely realized. We herein report on improved OER catalysis by metal porphyrin 1‐M (M=Co, Fe) with a coordinatively unsaturated metal ion. We designed and synthesized 1‐M by sterically blocking one porphyrin side with a tethered tetraazacyclododecane unit. With this protection, the metal‐oxo species generated in OER can maintain an unoccupied trans axial site. Importantly, 1‐M displays a higher OER activity in alkaline solutions than analogues lacking such an axial protection by decreasing up to 150‐mV overpotential to achieve 10 mA/cm2 current density. Theoretical studies suggest that with an unoccupied trans axial site, the metal‐oxo unit becomes more positively charged and thus is more favoured for the hydroxide nucleophilic attack as compared to metal‐oxo units bearing trans axial ligands.
摘要在氧进化反应(OER)中,
水或氢氧化物对
金属氧单元的亲核攻击会形成 O-O 键。通过配位调整来改善这种攻击令人感兴趣,但却很少实现。我们在此报告了
金属
卟啉 1-M(M=Co、Fe)与配位不饱和
金属离子对 OER 催化作用的改进。我们设计并合成了 1-M,方法是用一个系链的四
氮杂环十二烷单元对
卟啉的一侧进行立体封堵。有了这种保护,在 OER 中生成的
金属氧物种可以保持一个未被占用的反式轴向位点。重要的是,与缺乏这种轴向保护的类似物相比,1-M 在碱性溶液中显示出更高的 OER 活性,过电位可降低到 150 毫伏,电流密度可达 10 毫安/平方厘米。理论研究表明,与带有反式轴向
配体的
金属氧代单元相比,带有未被占用的反式轴向位点的
金属氧代单元更带正电荷,因此更有利于受到氢氧化物的亲核攻击。