Macrocyclic hydroperoxocobalt(III) complex: photochemistry, spectroscopy, and crystal structure

The hydroperoxocobalt complex [L(2)(CH(3)CN)CoOOH](ClO(4))(2).CH(3)CN (L(2) = meso-5,7,7,12,14,14-Me(6)-[14]aneN(4)) crystallizes with discrete anions, cations, and solvate acetonitrile molecules in the lattice. The complex crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2(1)/n, a = 10.4230(5) A, b = 16.1561(8) A, c = 17.4676(9) A, beta = 92.267(1) degrees, V = 2939.2(3) A(3), Z = 4. The O-O bond length is 1.397(4) A, and the O(2)-O(1)-Co angle spans 117.7 degrees. The O-O stretch in the infrared spectrum appears at 815 cm(-1). The 355- and 266-nm photolysis of acidic aqueous solutions of L(2)(H(2)O)CoOOH(2+) results in homolytic splitting of the Co-O bond and yields L(2)Co(H(2)O)(2)(2+) and HO(2)(*)/O(2)(*-) as the only products. The two fragments were scavenged selectively in separate experiments with O(2) and C(NO(2))(4). There is no evidence for photochemical O-O bond homolysis, presumably because the appropriate optical transition is masked by the HO(2)-to-Co LMCT transition.