Electropolymerized manganese porphyrin films as catalytic electrode materials for biomimetic oxidations with molecular oxygen

Some recently published results on the electrocatalytic oxidation of hydrocarbons, olefins and a thioacetamide derivative by molecular oxygen are described. The catalytic process involves electropolymerized manganese porphyrin firms as electrode materials in acetonitrile or dichloromethane solution containing 1-methylimidazole and benzoic (or acetic) anhydride, with acceptable catalytic efficiency (up to 500 turnovers of the catalyst per hour) and faradaic yield (up to 98%). Confinement of the catalyst on the electrode surface markedly improves its stability compared with that of homogeneous electrocatalytic systems and makes the supported porphyrin stable and reusable.