Electrochemical properties and catalytic reactivity of cobalt complexes with redox-active meso-substituted porphycene ligands

The cobalt complexes of meso-aryl substituted porphycenes were synthesized and characterized. The reduction potentials of the complexes were shifted to the positive side depending on the strength of the electron-withdrawing properties of the meso-substituents, while the optical properties, such as the absorption spectra of these complexes, were similar. This suggests that the energy levels of the molecular orbitals of the complexes were changed by the meso-substituents while the gaps of the orbitals were not significantly changed. The one-electron reduction of the complex did not afford the Co(I) species, but the ligand-reduced radical anion, which was characterized by electrospectrochemistry. The generated ligand-reduced species reacted with alkyl halides to form the Co(III)-alkyl complex. As a result, the reduction potential of the electrolytic reaction could be directly controlled by the substituents of the porphycene. The catalytic reaction with trichloromethylbenzene was also performed and it was found that the ratio of the obtained products was changed by the reduction potentials of the catalyst, i.e. the cobalt porphycenes.