Metal-metal bonded complexes are promising candidates for catalyzing redox transformations. Of particular interest is the oxidation of ammonia to dinitrogen, an important half reaction for the potential utilization of ammonia as a fuel or hydrogen carrier. This work computationally explores 30 different metal-metal bonded dimers (5 different metal centers and 6 different benzoate ligand derivatives) to explore the tunability of the redox potential when ammonia is bound to the complexes as an axial ligand, modeling the first step in ammonia oxidation electrocatalysis. We calculate the redox potentials of these compounds, making reference to experimental data when appropriate, identifying two degrees of tunability: a coarse adjustment, changing the metal center, allows for a wide range of redox potentials to be accessed (from +1.0 to -2.0 V vs. ferrocene/ferrocenium in acetonitrile solution) and a fine adjustment, the para-substituent of the benzoate derivative, which affects the redox potential in a smaller range based on the electron donating/withdrawing effects of the substituent. Ruthenium and osmium tetrabenzoate catalysts are prime candidates for next generation ammonia oxidation catalysts because their redox potentials fall within the direct ammonia fuel cell "viability zone" bracketed by the thermodynamic potentials of oxygen reduction (ORR) and nitrogen reduction (NRR). Rhodium tetrabenzoate species fall above the ORR potential, suggesting ammonia oxidation promoted by Rh2 catalysts could instead be used to facilitate hydrogen production through coupling to hydrogen evolution at a cathode. The redox potentials of rhenium and iridium tetrabenzoate catalysts fall below the NRR potential suggesting that these compounds could be further investigated in the context of electrochemical ammonia synthesis. Each redox event studied involves electron transfer from the M-M δ* orbital regardless of choice of metal or benzoate ligand derivative; this leads us to believe that the chemical reactivity of the various studied compounds will be similar in the context of ammonia oxidation.

Computational analysis of metal-metal bonded dimetal tetrabenzoate redox potentials in the context of ammonia oxidation electrocatalysis.

The title compound, tetrakis(μ-3,4,5-triethoxy­benzoato-κ2O:O′)­bis­[(pyrazine-κN)­rhodium(II)](Rh—Rh), [Rh2(C13H17O5)4(C4H4N2)2], crystallizes on an inversion centre in the triclinic space group P \overline 1. The equatorial carboxyl­ate ligands bridge the two RhII atoms, giving a binuclear lantern-like structure. The pyrazine mol­ecules occupy the two axial coordination sites. The phenyl rings are tilted by ca 10° with respect to the attached carboxyl­ate groups. The pyrazine planes have a torsion angle of ca 19° around the Rh—N bond with respect to the plane of the nearer carboxyl­ate group and are not coplanar with the Rh—Rh bond.

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Zulema D. Chaia

Papers

A pyrazine bis-adduct of a binuclear rhodium(II) carboxylate containing 3,4,5-triethoxybenzoate as the equatorial ligand.