Issue 18, 2024

Redox-active ligand promoted multielectron reactivity at earth-abundant transition metal complexes

Abstract

The introduction of redox-active ligands into transition metal complexes can lead to novel redox behavior due to the ability of these ligands to serve as electron reservoirs. This feature is especially attractive in earth-abundant transition metal systems that typically favor one-electron redox processes and radical reactivity, as opposed to the two-electron redox cycles common with the noble metals. The redox flexibility afforded by redox-active ligands can enable substrate activation and/or bond forming and breaking processes that would otherwise be inaccessible with traditional redox-innocent ligands. This review discusses key examples of stoichiometric substrate activation and organic transformations facilitated by redox-active ligand-promoted multielectron reactivity at earth-abundant metal complexes. We highlight the electrochemical properties of these systems in relation to their substrate reactivity, where, in many cases, the complexes exhibit sequential one-electron redox events. Only a few examples have achieved electrocatalytic reactivity based on two-electron redox features, which underscores the untapped potential for further development of redox-active ligand systems to expand the capabilities of earth-abundant metal complexes in electrocatalysis.

Graphical abstract: Redox-active ligand promoted multielectron reactivity at earth-abundant transition metal complexes

Article information

Article type
Review Article
Submitted
19 May 2024
Accepted
31 Jul 2024
First published
05 Aug 2024
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Inorg. Chem. Front., 2024,11, 5795-5809

Redox-active ligand promoted multielectron reactivity at earth-abundant transition metal complexes

M. Zou and K. M. Waldie, Inorg. Chem. Front., 2024, 11, 5795 DOI: 10.1039/D4QI01265H

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications, without requesting further permission from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given and it is not used for commercial purposes.

To request permission to reproduce material from this article in a commercial publication, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party commercial publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements