Although research on nitrosyl (NO) heme complexes and their one-electron reduced form, nitroxyl (or nitroxyl anion, NO-) derivatives, has been going on for decades, there are still disagreements about the electrical configuration of nitroxyl complexes, and the majority of the work on this topic is based on theoretical calculations. Following the initial nitroxyl iron porphyrin crystal structure, we present two further polymorphic forms of [CoCp2][Fe(TFPPBr8)(NO)]. Using the same completely halogenated porphyrin ligand, we also present two polymorphic forms of nitrosyl cobalt(II) complexes, which are another sort of {MNO}(8) structure. In addition to the EXANES and EPR studies of these {FeNO}(7) and {CoNO}(8) complexes, the {FeNO}(8) [CoCp2][Fe(TFPPBr8)(NO)] complex is also investigated by temperature-dependent Mossbauer experiments for the first time with the {FeNO}(7) precursor as a control sample. The analysis of the Mossbauer and crystal structural parameters between these two types of {MNO}(8) (M = Fe or Co) species and previously reported analogous ones allow us to conclude that the electronic configuration of [Fe(TFPPBr8)(NO)](-) is best described as an intermediate between low-spin Fe(II)-NO- and Fe(I)-NO center dot.

There has been considerable research interest in the ligand nature of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). In this work, two six-coordinate NHC iron porphyrin complexes [FeII(TTP)(1,3-Me2Imd)2] (TTP = tetratolylporphyrin, 1,3-Me2Imd = 1,3-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene) and [FeIII(TDCPP)(1,3-Me2Imd)2]ClO4 (TDCPP = 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(2,6-dichlorophenyl)porphyrin) are reported. Single-crystal X-ray characterizations demonstrate that both complexes have strongly ruffled conformations and relatively perpendicular ligand orientations which are forced by the sterically bulky 1,3-Me2Imd NHC ligands. Multitemperature (4.2-300 K) and high magnetic field (0-9 T) Mössbauer and low-temperature (4.0 K) EPR spectroscopies definitely confirmed the low-spin states of [FeII(TTP)(1,3-Me2Imd)2] (S = 0) and [FeIII(TDCPP)(1,3-Me2Imd)2]ClO4 (S = 1/2). The similarity of 1,3-Me2Imd and imidazole, as well as the well-established correlations between the ligand nature and spectroscopic characteristics of [FeII,III(Porph)(L)2]0,+ (Porph: porphyrin; L: planar base ligand) species, allowed direct comparisons between the pair of ligands which revealed for the first time that NHC has a stronger π-acceptor ability than imidazoles, in addition to its very strong σ-donation.

There have been debates on the electronic configurations of (nitrosyl)iron corroles for decades. In this work, pentacoordinate [Fe(TPC)(NO)], [Fe(TTC)(NO)], and [Fe(TpFC)(NO)] with different para-substituted phenyl groups (TPC, TTC, and TpFC = tris(phenyl, 4-tolyl, or 4-fluorophenyl)corrole, respectively) have been isolated and investigated by various techniques including single-crystal X-ray diffraction, UV-vis spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, Fourier transform infrared, NMR, and absorption fine structure spectroscopy. Multitemperature and high-magnetic-field (3, 6, and 9 T) Mössbauer spectroscopy was also applied on all three complexes, which determined the S = 0 diamagnetic states, consistent with the magnetic susceptibility and electron paramagnetic resonance measurements. Density functional theory predictions by different functionals were compared, and the new calculation strategy, which gave remarkable agreement of the experimental Mössbauer parameters (ΔEQ and δ), allowed further assignment on the electronic configuration of {FeNO}6-(corrole3-) with antiferromagnetically coupled (S = 1/2, FeIII) and (S = 1/2, NO). Correlated sequences between the electronic donating/withdrawing capability of para substituents and the reduction/oxidation potentials, metal out-of-plane displacements (Δ4 and Δ23), and Mössbauer parameters (Vzz and ΔEQ) were also established, which suggests the strong effects of peripheral substituents.

It is of great research interest to understand the nanostructures contributing to the activity observed in the reduction of oxygen by non-platinum group metal (PGM) electrocatalysts in acidic media. Iron- and nitrogen-containing carbon networks are often the most studied structures, among which single-atom iron-coordinated nitrogen (FeNx) moieties have often been proposed to be the structures leading to the high activity in these non-PGM electrocatalysts. Iron nanoparticles embedded within a carbon support are also formed under certain conditions as a result of the synthetic processes in making non-PGM electrocatalysts. In this study, we present a study to understand the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity of prepared iron- and nitrogen-containing non-PGM electrocatalysts obtained through the pyrolysis of metal-organic framework (MOF) precursors. We studied the structure-property relationship among nanostructures made from the MOF precursor ZIF-8 under different pyrolysis conditions. Density functional theory calculations were used to explain the effect of structural moieties on the ORR activity. Our results suggest that iron-coordinated C-N structures and iron nanoparticles act synergistically to catalyze the ORR.

Non-platinum group metal (non-PGM) electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are generally composed of iron, nitrogen, and carbon synthesized through high-temperature pyrolysis. Among the various types of precursors, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF)-8 in particular, have often been used in the synthesis. The pyrolysis of ZIF-8 precursor relies on the use of Zn as a sacrificial metal (SM), and the optimal processing temperatures often exceed 1000 °C to generate active non-PGM catalysts. The high pyrolysis temperature tends to result in heterogeneous active moieties ranging from Fe single atoms to nanoparticles. In this study, we present the synthesis of non-PGM catalysts using Cd as the sacrificial metal instead of Zn. By using Cd, we were able to generate active non-PGM electrocatalysts from the MOF precursors at a low pyrolysis temperature of 750 °C, which helps preserve the single atomic iron active sites.

Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) has a binuclear active site composed of a high-spin heme group and a tris-histidine-ligated copper ion (CuB). By using two different porphyrin models derived by Gunter (H2TPyPP) and us (H2TImPP), we have isolated several mono- and binuclear complexes including one carbonyl and three chloride derivatives which are determined by 100 K single-crystal X-ray. Low-temperature (4 K) EPR and multitemperature (295-25 K) Mössbauer investigations on the products not only confirmed the spin states of the two metal ions (S = 5/2 Fe3+ and S = 1/2 Cu2+) but also revealed the intermolecular interactions and intramolecular couplings which are in accordance with the crystal structural features.

Several six-coordinate iron(II) carbene tetra(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin (TFPP) complexes, [Fe(TFPP)(CPh2)(1-EtIm)] (1-EtIm = 1-ethylimidazole) and [Fe(TFPP)(CPh2)(1,2-Me2Im)] (1,2-Me2Im = 1,2-dimethylimidazole), are isolated and studied by UV-vis, single-crystal X-ray, and Mössbauer spectroscopies. The single-crystal structural studies revealed noteworthy features including strong and "hard" axial carbene bonds (Fe-C) but "flexible" trans ligand bonds (Fe-NIm). The Mössbauer spectra of [Fe(TFPP)(CPh2)(1-EtIm)] and [Fe(TFPP)(CPh2)(1,2-Me2Im)] are obtained on solid-state samples between 25 and 295 K, which give very large Δ EQ values (1.8-1.9 mm/s), suggesting a weak effect of the trans imidazole ligands. Comparisons with diatomic carbon-donor ligands (CO, CS, and CN-) demonstrate considerably stronger π bonding of the :CPh2 carbene.

We have successfully synthesized and characterized a new low-spin iron(III) bis(4-cyanopyridine) complex with a meso-porphyrin substituted in the para positions of the phenyls by the methoxy group, namely the bis(4-cyanopyridine)[(meso-tetrakis(4-metoxyphenylporphyrinato)]iron(III) trifluoromethanesulfonate chlorobenzene monosolvate complex with the formula [Fe-III(TMPP)(4-CNpy)(2)]SO3CF3 center dot C6H5Cl (I). This species was characterized through ultraviolet-visible, Fourier-transform infrared and Mossbauer spectroscopy as well as by SQUID magnetometry, cyclic voltammetry, and X-ray crystallography. These characterizations indicated that our synthetic heme model is a low-spin (S = 1/2) coordination compound and especially shows that the structural, electronic and the magnetic properties of complex (I) are closely dominated by the presence of the methoxy odonor group at the para positions of the meso-porphyrin.

Non-precious-metal catalysts have been investigated as alternatives to Pt-based oxygen reduction reaction catalysts for more than 50 years. While the incorporation of a metal is known to be necessary to generate a catalyst with high activity, the exact role of the metal is still not well-understood. In this work, we prepare an active oxygen reduction reaction catalyst containing Fe and then selectively remove the Fe from the catalyst while preserving the carbon and nitrogen species. By comparing the oxygen reduction reaction activity of the catalyst before and after treatment, we show that in the absence of Fe the carbon and nitrogen sites in the catalyst exhibit a larger overpotential and lower selectivity for the 4e– reduction of oxygen in both acidic and alkaline conditions. These findings reveal the direct involvement of the metal in the active site of non-precious-metal catalysts and provide important guidance for future catalyst improvements.

The influence of hydrogen binding to the N-H group of coordinated imidazole in high-spin iron(II) porphyrinates has been studied. The preparation and characterization of new complexes based on [Fe(TPP)(2-MeHIm)] (TPP is the dianion of tetraphenylporphyrin) are reported. The hydrogen bond acceptors are ethanol, tetramethylene sulfoxide, and 2-methylimidazole. The last acceptor, 2-MeHIm, was found in a crystalline complex with two [Fe(TPP)(2-MeHIm)] sites, only one of which has the 2-methylimidazole hydrogen bond acceptor. This latter complex has been studied by temperature-dependent Mössbauer spectroscopy. All new complexes have also been characterized by X-ray structure determinations. The Fe-NP and Fe-NIm bond lengths, and displacement of the Fe atom out of the porphyrin plane are similar to, but marginally different than, those in imidazole-ligated species with no hydrogen bond. All the structural and Mössbauer properties suggest that these new hydrogen-bonded species have the same electronic configuration as imidazole-ligated species with no hydrogen bond. These new studies continue to show that the effects of hydrogen bonding in five-coordinate high-spin iron(II) systems are subtle and challenging to understand.

An entry from the Cambridge Structural Database, the world’s repository for small molecule crystal structures. The entry contains experimental data from a crystal diffraction study. The deposited dataset for this entry is freely available from the CCDC and typically includes 3D coordinates, cell parameters, space group, experimental conditions and quality measures.

A new sterically hindered "picket fence-like" porphyrin with chelates for the second metal atom, H2TImPP (TImPP = meso-tetrakis[α,α,α,α-o-(5-imidazolecarboxylaminophenyl)]porphyrinato), is developed and used in the synthesis of four iron(II) bis(imidazole) derivatives, which are characterized by single crystal X-ray and other spectroscopies. The comprehensive studies on the crystal structures revealed noteworthy features including new axial ligand arrangements, deformed porphyrin planes, and strongly tilted pickets which can be rationalized by analysis of the intra- and intermolecular interactions. Solid-state Mössbauer experiments on [Fe(TImPP)(1-MeIm)2] were conducted at several temperatures from 295 to 25 K. The quadrupole splitting (ΔEQ) in the range of 1.01-1.03 mm/s confirmed the low-spin state of the iron.

The (tert-butyl isocyanide)(5,10,15,20-{tetrakis-[4-(benzoyloxy) phenyl] porphyrinato} iron(II) coordination compound with the formula [Fe-II(TPBP)(t-BuNC)(2)] (I) was prepared by the reduction of the triflato iron(III) starting material [Fe-III(TPBP)(SO3CF3)] using a large excess of tert-butyl isocyanide. The UV-visible titration and IR spectra indicated that (I) is an iron(II) porphyrin derivative. A solid-state Mossbauer investigation of this species showed that the quadrupole splitting (Delta E-Q) and the isomer shift (delta(Fe)) values are small [Delta E-Q - 0.20 (1) mm. s(-1) and delta(Fe) - 0.22 (1) mm. s(-1) at 300 K]. These values are very close to those of the known bis(carbonyl) and the bis(cyano) iron(II) porphyrins. This indicates that (I) is a low-spin (S = 0) iron(II) metalloporphyrin where the t-BuNC is a good pi-acceptor moiety comparable to the CN- and CO ligands. The X-ray molecular structure confirms the low-spin character of (I) where the average equatorial Fe(II)-N(pyrrole) bond length is 2.007 (2) angstrom. In the crystal, the [Fe-II(TPBP)(t-BuNC)(2)] molecules are linked together via weak C-H center dot center dot center dot center dot O and C-H center dot center dot center dot center dot Cg (Cg is the centroid of a pyrrole or a phenyl ring) intermolecular interactions forming two-dimensional chains parallel to the c axis. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The five-coordinate iron porphyrin carbene complexes [Fe(TPP) (CCl2)] (TPP = tetraphenylporphyrin), [Fe(TTP) (CCl2)] (TTP = tetratolylporphyrin) and [Fe(TFPP) (CPh2)] (TFPP = tetra(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin), utilizing two types of carbene ligands (CCl2 and CPh2), have been investigated by single crystal X-ray, XANES (X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy), Mössbauer, NMR and UV-vis spectroscopies. The XANES suggested the iron(II) oxidation state of the complexes. The multitemperature and high magnetic field Mössbauer experiments, which show very large quadrupole splittings (QS, ΔEQ), determined the S = 0 electronic configuration. More importantly, combined structural and Mössbauer studies, especially the comparison with the low spin iron(II) porphyrin complexes with strong diatomic ligands (CS, CO and CN-) revealed the covalent bond nature of the carbene ligands. A correlation between the iron isomer shifts (IS, δ) and the axial bond distances is established for the first time for these donor carbon ligands (:C-R).

The synthesis, the UV-visible, FT-IR and Mossbauer spectroscopy and the crystal structure characterizations of the bis[4-(2-Aminoethyl)morpholine]tetrakis(4-metoxyphenyl)porphy-rinato)iron(II) complex are described. The title compound crystallizes in the triclinic, space group P-1, with a = 11.1253(4) angstrom, b = 11.2379(4) angstrom, c = 11.5488(4) angstrom, alpha = 72.304(2)degrees, beta = 86.002(2)degrees gamma = 72.066(2)degrees, V = 1308.28(8) angstrom(3), Z = 1. The Mossbauer data are consistent with an iron(II) low-spin (S = 0) porphyin species. The spin-state is confirmed by the value of the average equatorial iron-nitrogen pyrrole distance (Fe-Np = 1.988(2) angstrom) which is in the normal range of low-spin iron(II) porphyrins. The supramolecular architecture involve hydrogen bonding including C-H ... O and weak C-H ... Cg pi intermolecular interactions involving centroides (Cg) pyrrole and phenyl rings. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The widespread use of fuel cells is currently limited by the lack of efficient and cost-effective catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. Iron-based non-precious metal catalysts exhibit promising activity and stability, as an alternative to state-of-the-art platinum catalysts. However, the identity of the active species in non-precious metal catalysts remains elusive, impeding the development of new catalysts. Here we demonstrate the reversible deactivation and reactivation of an iron-based non-precious metal oxygen reduction catalyst achieved using high-temperature gas-phase chlorine and hydrogen treatments. In addition, we observe a decrease in catalyst heterogeneity following treatment with chlorine and hydrogen, using Mössbauer and X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Our study reveals that protected sites adjacent to iron nanoparticles are responsible for the observed activity and stability of the catalyst. These findings may allow for the design and synthesis of enhanced non-precious metal oxygen reduction catalysts with a higher density of active sites.

The synthesis and characterization of several electron-poor iron(II) porphyrin (FeTFPPBr8) complexes with axial imidazole ligands are reported. The single-crystal X-ray structures have been studied by a combination of crystal packing and Hirshfeld surface calculations, which explained the unusual axial-ligand geometries, e.g., the strong tilt of the Fe-NIm bonds and the imidazole planes. The six-coordinate [Fe(TFPPBr8)(1-MeIm)2] was studied by multiple-temperature solid-state Mössbauer spectroscopy, which suggested that it is a low-spin complex with δ ∼ 0.32-0.38 mm/s and ΔEQ ∼ 1.0 mm/s.

A new, modified "picket fence" porphyrin is synthesized and its bis(imidazole)-ligated iron(ii) derivative [Fe(MbenTpivPP)(1-MeIm)(2)] is investigated. X-ray structure determinations demonstrate that [Fe(MbenTpivPP)(1-MeIm)(2)] has structural features of a near planar porphyrin plane, a relative perpendicular ligand orientation, and one unusually large absolute ligand orientation (φ). The combination of these features leads to a new type of species that is different from previously reported analogues. Further structural examination reveals a strong correlation between the mutual ligand orientations (θ) and the axial Fe-N(Im) bond distances, which is detailed for the first time. Mössbauer spectroscopic characterization shows that the low spin derivative has a quadrupole splitting of 0.99 mm s(-1) at 100 K.

A common structural motif in heme proteins is a five-coordinate species in which the iron is coordinated by a histidyl residue. The widely distributed heme proteins with this motif are essential for the well being of humans and other organisms. We detail the differences in molecular structures and physical properties of high-spin iron(ii) porphyrin derivatives ligated by neutral imidazole, hydrogen bonded imidazole, and imidazolate or other anions. Two distinct (high spin) electronic states are observed that have differing d-orbital occupancies and discernibly different five-coordinate square-pyramidal coordination groups. The doubly occupied orbital in the imidazole species is a low symmetry orbital oblique to the heme plane whereas in the imidazolate species the doubly occupied orbital is a high symmetry orbital in the heme plane, i.e., the primary doubly-occupied d-orbital is different. Methods that can be used to classify a particular complex into one or the other state include X-ray structure determinations, high-field Mössbauer spectroscopy, vibrational spectroscopy, magnetic circular dichroism, and even-spin EPR spectroscopy. The possible functional significance of the ground state differences has not been established for heme proteins, but is likely found in the pathways for oxygen transport vs. oxygen utilization.