Synthesis and Solution Chemistry of an Octabrominated Iron (III) Porphyrin for Oxygen-Activation Catalysis

The chemistry of water-soluble cationic porphyrins has been actively pursued in the interest of providing new materials with electronic and magnetic properties suitable for use in optical and memory devices as well as for the fabrication of metallocatalysts for the heterogeneous activation of oxygen. To this end, we have synthesized a new cationic iron(III) porphyrin bearing bromine substituents at the porphyrinic carbons. Electrochemical studies of the iron(III) complex indicated an increase in oxidation strength by 0.33 V shift to more positive potential for the Fe(IIVII) redox potential compared to the non-brominated iron complex. The synthesis and spectroscopic properties of the porphyrin will be presented