Electronic control of the protonation rates of Fe-Fe bonds.

Protonation at metal–metal bonds is of fundamental interest in the context of the function of the active sites of hydrogenases and nitrogenases. In diiron dithiolate complexes bearing carbonyl and electron-donating ligands, the metal–metal bond is the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) with a “bent” geometry. Here we show that the experimentally measured rates of protonation (kH) of this bond and the energy of the HOMO as measured by the oxidation potential of the complexes (E1/2ox) correlate in a linear free energy relationship: ln kH = ((F(c – βE1/2ox))/(RT)), where c is a constant and β is the dimensionless Bronsted coefficient. The value of β of 0.68 is indicative of a strong dependence upon energy of the HOMO: measured rates of protonation vary over 6 orders of magnitude for a change in E1/2ox of ca. 0.55 V (ca. 11 orders of magnitude/V). This relationship allows prediction of protonation rates of systems that are either too fast to measure experimentally or that possess additional protonation...