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Catalytic Synthesis and Characterization of Biodegradable ...

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<strong>Synthesis</strong> <strong>and</strong> Electrochemistry <strong>of</strong> Schiff Base Cobalt(III) Complexes <strong>and</strong> Their<br />

<strong>Catalytic</strong> Activity for Copolymerization <strong>of</strong> Epoxide <strong>and</strong> Carbon Dioxide<br />

Figure 2.4. Cyclic voltammograms <strong>of</strong> 1 mM solutions <strong>of</strong> L-Co III -dnp in DMF<br />

containing 0.1 M NBu4ClO4 on a carbon electrode. Potential is shown in V vs.<br />

Ag/Ag + at the scan rate <strong>of</strong> 100 mV s -1 . I: L 1 -Co III -dnp; II: L 2 -Co III -dnp; III:<br />

L 3 -Co III -dnp; IV: L 4 -Co III -dnp.<br />

Co II for L-Co III -dnp (Table 2.4) revealed that the length<br />

<strong>and</strong> steric structures <strong>of</strong> the diimine-bridges between the two nitrogen atoms in the Schiff bases<br />

significantly affected the redox potential. These complexes had the same auxiliary lig<strong>and</strong>,<br />

2,4-dinitrophenolate, but different diimine-bridges. The gradual shift <strong>of</strong> E1/2 to negative<br />

potentials for the L 3 -Co III -dnp, L 2 -Co III -dnp, <strong>and</strong> L 1 -Co III -dnp complexes indicated that the<br />

election-donating character <strong>of</strong> the lig<strong>and</strong> increased in this order, stabilizing the axial Co–O<br />

(phenolate) bond in Figure 2.1, which is an advantage when forming the transition state<br />

(Scheme 2.2) <strong>and</strong> thus leads to a faster copolymerization <strong>of</strong> CO2 <strong>and</strong> PO. However,<br />

The E1/2 data <strong>of</strong> Co III + e -<br />

L 4 -Co III -dnp has the most negative E1/2 <strong>of</strong> 32 mV <strong>and</strong> yet the lowest activity for the<br />

copolymerization. It is believed that the diimine-bridges containing two carbon atoms <strong>and</strong><br />

three carbon atoms leads to a square pyramidal (sqp) <strong>and</strong> a trigonal bipyramidal (tbp)<br />

geometry for the central five-coordinated metal atom, respectively. Thus, the low catalytic<br />

activity <strong>of</strong> L 4 -Co III -dnp during the copolymerization <strong>of</strong> CO2 <strong>and</strong> PO may be ascribed to the<br />

unfavorable tbp geometry <strong>of</strong> the central cobalt atom, which prevents Bu4NBr from<br />

coordinating with cobalt in an axial position opposite to the Co–O (phenolate) bond, leading<br />

to the decrease in the activity. The utilization <strong>of</strong> carbon dioxide (CO2) has received much<br />

attention because <strong>of</strong> its potential use as an abundant, economical <strong>and</strong> biorenewable resource<br />

<strong>and</strong> its weakening <strong>of</strong> global warming or the greenhouse effect. The copolymerization <strong>of</strong> CO2<br />

as the monomer with epoxide was firstly reported by Inoue et al. in the 1960s. 35 The<br />

combination <strong>of</strong> the X-ray crystallographic <strong>and</strong> electrochemical results in the present<br />

investigation provided important insights into the factors dominating the catalytic activity<br />

‐ 67 ‐

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