Study on Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer in Transition Metal Complexes

In this award account are described our achievements in proton-coupled electron transfer reactions performed by transition metal complexes. Topics include formation and reactivity of Ru-IV-oxo and Ru-III-oxyl complexes, and hydrogen-atom transfer from substrates to Ru-III-pterin complexes. Based on kinetic analysis of the reactions, mechanistic insights into those reactions are gained to shed light on the reactivity of metal complexes as hydrogen-atom acceptors. In addition, we present our efforts in artificial photosynthesis concerning efficient and photocatalytic water oxidation by a dinuclear Co-III complex as well as selective CO2 reduction by Ni-II complexes.