Engineering topics

Huang, Daria L.

Publications and source records attributed to Huang, Daria L..

4 records

DOE OSTI2017

Cp* versus Bis-carbonyl Iridium Precursors as CH Oxidation Precatalysts

We previously reported a dimeric Ir IV -oxo species as the active water oxidation catalyst formed from a Cp*Ir(pyalc)Cl {pyalc = 2-(2'-pyridyl)-2-propanoate} precursor, where the Cp* is lost to oxidative degradation during catalyst activation; this system can also oxidize unactivated CH bonds. We now show that the same Cp*Ir(pyalc)Cl precursor leads to two distinct active catalysts for CH oxidation. In the presence of external CH substrate, the Cp* remains ligated to the Ir center during catalysis; the active species—likely a high-valent Cp*Ir(pyalc) species—will oxidize the substrate instead of its own Cp*. If there is no external CH substrate in the reaction mixture, the Cp* will be oxidized and lost, and the active species is then an iridium-$μ$-oxo dimer. Additionally, the recently reported Ir(CO) 2 (pyalc) water oxidation precatalyst is now found to be an efficient, stereoretentive CH oxidation precursor. We compare the reactivity of Ir(CO) 2 (pyalc) and Cp*Ir(pyalc)Cl precursors and show that both can lose their placeholder ligands, CO or Cp*, to form substantially similar dimeric IrIV-oxo catalyst resting states. The more efficient activation of the bis-carbonyl precursor makes it less inhibited by obligatory byproducts formed from Cp* degradation, and therefore the dicarbonyl is our preferred precatalyst for oxidation catalysis.

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DOE OSTI2016

Heterogenized Iridium Water-Oxidation Catalyst from a Silatrane Precursor

Here, a pentamethylcyclopentadienyl (Cp*) iridium water-oxidation precatalyst was modified to include a silatrane functional group for covalent attachment to metal oxide semiconductor surfaces. The heterogenized catalyst was discovered to perform electrochemically driven water oxidation at an overpotential of 462 mV with a turnover number of 304 and turnover frequency of 0.035 s –1 in a 0.1 M KNO3 electrolyte at pH 5.8. Computational modeling of the experimental IR spectra suggests that the catalyst retains its Cp* group during the first hour of catalysis and likely remains monomeric.

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DOE OSTI2016

New Ir Bis-Carbonyl Precursor for Water Oxidation Catalysis

This paper introduces Ir I (CO) 2 (pyalc) (pyalc = (2-pyridyl)-2-propanoate) as an atom-efficient precursor for Ir-based homogeneous oxidation catalysis. This compound was chosen to simplify analysis of the water oxidation catalyst species formed by the previously reported Cp*Ir III (pyalc)OH water oxidation precatalyst. Here, we present a comparative study on the chemical and catalytic properties of these two precursors. Previous studies show that oxidative activation of Cp*Ir-based precursors with NaIO 4 results in formation of a blue Ir IV species. This activation is concomitant with the loss of the placeholder Cp* ligand which oxidatively degrades to form acetic acid, iodate, and other obligatory byproducts. The activation process requires substantial amounts of primary oxidant, and the degradation products complicate analysis of the resulting Ir IV species. The species formed from oxidation of the Ir(CO) 2 (pyalc) precursor, on the other hand, lacks these degradation products (the CO ligands are easily lost upon oxidation) which allows for more detailed examination of the resulting Ir(pyalc) active species both catalytically and spectroscopically, although complete structural analysis is still elusive. Once Ir(CO) 2 (pyalc) is activated, the system requires acetic acid or acetate to prevent the formation of nanoparticles. Investigation of the activated bis-carbonyl complex also suggests several Ir(pyalc) isomers may exist in solution. By 1 H NMR, activated Ir(CO) 2 (pyalc) has fewer isomers than activated Cp*Ir complexes, allowing for advanced characterization. Future research in this direction is expected to contribute to a better structural understanding of the active species. A diol crystallization agent was needed for the structure determination of 3.

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DOE OSTI2015

Iridium-based complexes for water oxidation

Organometallic Ir precatalysts have been found to yield homogeneous Ir-based water-oxidation catalysts (WOCs) with very high activity. The Cp*Ir catalyst series can operate under a variety of regimes: it can either act as a homogeneous or a heterogeneous catalyst; it can be driven by chemical, photochemical, or electrochemical methods; and the molecular catalyst can either act in solution or supported as a molecular unit on a variety of solid oxides. In addition to optimizing the various reaction conditions, work has continued to elucidate the catalyst activation mechanism and identify water-oxidation intermediates. Furthermore, this Perspective will describe the development of the Cp*Ir series, their many forms as WOCs, and their ongoing characterization.

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