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In situ Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) have been used to investigate the nature of the 'activated' gold surface. The results suggest that the activation procedure leads to a situation where various relatively well defined surfaces can be formed on polycrystalline gold.

A series of three meso-tetra-alkyl porphyrins (H 2 TAPs) were synthesised and their electrochemical properties were studied in dichloromethane containing either tetra-butyl ammonium perclorate (TBAP) or tetra-butyl ammonium hexafluorophosphate TBA(PF 6 ) as supporting electrolyte (SE) by cyclic voltammetry and in situ UV/vis spectroelectrochemistry. Values of E 1/2 for the recorded four redox processes of these porphyrins and of the meso-tetra-phenyl porphyrin (H 2 TPP) on glassy carbon and platinum were measured and compared. The redox data collected on the first oxidation and the first reduction processes predict that the value of (LUMO − HOMO) for the H 2 TAPs is lower than for meso-tetra-phenyl porphyrin and, therefore, that the first Q band of the electronic spectra of the H 2 TAPs is red shifted relatively to the same band in the spectrum of H 2 TPP; this shift was indeed found. The second oxidation process of the H 2 TAPs is influenced by the supporting electrolyte used and the dication then formed is consumed by an irreversible chemical reaction. The species produced in this reaction is irreversibly reduced at a considerably lower potential. The electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical data collected are consistent with the occurrence of structural distortion in the macrocycle rings of the H 2 TAPs.

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