Heterogeneous Kinetics of Metal- and Ligand-Based Redox Reactions within Adsorbed Monolayers

Dense monolayers of [Os(bpy)(2)py(p3p)](2+), where bpy is 2,2'-bipyridyl, py is pyridine, and p3p is 4,4'-trimethylenedipyridine, have been formed by spontaneous adsorption onto clean platinum microelectrodes. Three well-defined waves, corresponding to osmium- and bipyridyl-based redox reactions, are observed in cyclic voltammetry of these monolayers, where the supporting electrolyte is tetrabutylammonium tetrafluoroborate (TBABF(4)) dissolved in acetonitrile. These reactions correspond to the charge states 3+/2+, 2+/1+, and 1+/0, respectively. Chronoamperometry, conducted on a microsecond time scale, has been used to measure the heterogeneous electron transfer rate constant, k/s(-1), for all three redox processes. For concentrations of TBABF(4) above 0.1 M, heterogeneous electron transfer is characterized by a single unimolecular rate constant. Standard heterogeneous electron transfer rate constants, k degrees, have been evaluated by extrapolating Tafel plots of ln k vs overpotential, eta, to zero driving force to yield values of (4.8 +/- 0.3) x 10(4) s(-1), (2.5 +/- 0.2) x 10(5) s(-1), and (3.3 +/- 0.3) x 10(4) s(-1) for k degrees (3+/2+), k degrees (2+/1+), and k degrees (1+/0), respectively. For large values of eta, these Tafel plots are curved for all three redox reactions, and while those corresponding to metal-based electron transfer are asymmetric with respect to eta, those corresponding to ligand-based reactions are symmetric. Temperature-resolved measurements of k reveal that the electrochemical activation enthalpy, DeltaH(), decreases from 43.1 +/- 2.8 kJ mol(-1) for the 3+/2+ reaction to 25.8 +/- 1.9 kJ mol(-1) for the 1+/0 process. Probing the temperature dependence of the formal potential gives the reaction entropy, DeltaS(rc) degrees. The reaction entropy depends on the state of charge of the monolayer with values of 212 +/- 18, 119 +/- 9, and 41 +/- 5 J mol(-1) K(-1) being observed for the 3+/2+, 2+/1+, and 1+/0, redox transformations, respectively. The electronic transmission coefficient, kappa(el), describing the probability of electron transfer once the nuclear transition state has been reached, is considerably less than unity for all three redox processes. However, kappa(el) is larger for the bipyridyl-based reductions, (2.4 +/- 0.9) x 10(-5), than for the metal-based reaction, (1.5 +/- 0.7) x 10(-6). This large difference in electronic transmission coefficients may be a consequence of the redox potentials of the bridging ligand and the remote redox sites being comparable, so that the electronic states of the bridging ligand contribute to the electron tunneling pathway.