Through‐Space Electrostatic Interactions Surpass Classical Through‐Bond Electronic Effects in Enhancing CO 2 Reduction Performance of Iron Porphyrins

International audienceIn his pioneering work to unravel the catalytic power of enzymes, A. Warshel has pertinently validated that electrostatic interactions play a major role in the activation (bond making and breaking) of substrates. Implementing such chemical artifice in bio-inspired molecular-based catalysts may help in improving their catalytic properties. In this study, we have designed a series of tetra-, di-and mono-substituted iron porphyrins with cationic imidazolium functions. The presence of a cationic module in the second coordination sphere could help to stabilize the [Fe-CO2] intermediate upon electrocatalysis through an electrostatic interaction. We found herein that the overpotential of these catalysts is a function of the number of embarked imidazolium units ranging from 230 to 620 mV compared to 680 mV for the parent nonfunctionalized tetra-phenyl iron porphyrin. Importantly, we evidenced a gain of six orders of magnitude for the turnover frequencies going from the tetra-to the mono-substituted catalyst. The comparative study nails the fact that the electrocatalytic performance trend of through-space electrostatic interaction models outperforms the classic throughstructure electronic effect strategy. Henceforth, including controlled topological electrostatic interaction may be an invaluable chemical tool in the design of molecular catalysts in the activation of small molecules