title: Electrocatalytic Dihydrogen Production with a Robust Mesoionic Pyridylcarbene Cobalt Catalyst.
abstract: A Co(III) complex with a mesoionic pyridylcarbene ligand is presented. This complex is an efficient electrocatalyst for H2 production at very low overpotential and high turnovers when using a (glassy carbon) GC electrode. The corresponding triazole complexes display no catalytic activity whatsoever under identical conditions. The remarkable robustness of the Co-C(carbene) bond towards acids is likely responsible for the high efficiency of this catalyst. The present results thus open new avenues for carbene-based ligands for generating functional models for hydrogenases.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie und Biochemie, Freie Universität Berlin, Fabeckstraße 34-36, 14195, Berlin (Germany).
authors.forename: Margarethe
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: van der Meer
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie und Biochemie, Freie Universität Berlin, Fabeckstraße 34-36, 14195, Berlin (Germany).
authors.forename: Estelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Glais
authors.affiliation: Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Georg-August Universität Göttingen, Tammanstraße 4, 37077, Göttingen (Germany). inke.siewert@chemie.uni-göttingen.de.
authors.forename: Inke
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Siewert
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie und Biochemie, Freie Universität Berlin, Fabeckstraße 34-36, 14195, Berlin (Germany). biprajit.sarkar@fu-berlin.de.
authors.forename: Biprajit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sarkar
keywords: cobalt; cyclic voltammetry; dihydrogen production; mesoionic carbenes; pyridylcarbenes