Hydrogen
atom (H•) donors generated from H2 facilitate
the atom efficient reduction of small molecule
substrates. However, generating H• donors with X–H
bond dissociation free energies (BDFEs) below 52 kcal mol–1 is especially challenging because they thermodynamically favor the
bimolecular evolution of H2. We have recently proposed
that [CpV(CO)3H]− catalyzes the conversion
of H2 into a proton, an electron, and a hydrogen atom in
the presence of a sacrificial base. In order to understand the driving
force for H• transfer, the free energies of H+/H•/H–/e– transfer from [CpV(CO)3H]− have been
evaluated using solution phase techniques and state-of-the-art quantum
chemical calculations. Thermochemical cycles have been constructed
in order to anchor the computational values against experimental observations.
This facilitates a quantitative comparison of the thermodynamic driving
force for H+/H•/H–/e– transfer between isoelectronic anionic/neutral hydrides
of the same row (the corresponding values are already available for
CpCr(CO)3H). The overall charge greatly influences the
thermodynamics of transferring H+, H–, and e– (i.e., [CpV(CO)3H]− is a much weaker acid, a stronger hydride donor, and a stronger
reductant than CpCr(CO)3H); there is almost no change in
the thermodynamics of H• transfer (V–H BDFE
54.7 kcal mol, Cr–H BDFE 57.0 kcal mol–1).
In MeCN, the one electron oxidation of [CpV(CO)3H]− (−0.83 V vs Fc/Fc+) generates CpV(CO)3H, which spontaneously evolves H2. The resulting
CpV(CO)3 is trapped as the solvent adduct CpV(CO)3(MeCN). Because H• transfer is now coupled to metal–solvent
binding, the V–H bond is substantially weakened for CpV(CO)3H (V–H BDFE 36.1 kcal mol–1), amounting
to a strategy for obtaining very reactive H atoms from H2.