Molecular catalysis of electrochemical reactions.: Mechanistic aspects

A review on molecular catalysis is given which will be the focus of this article. Molecular catalysis is another form of catalyzing electrochemical reactions which uses molecules as catalysts that is either homogeneously dispersed in the solution bathing the electrode or immobilized in a monolayer or multilayered coating deposited on the electrode surface. Other topics that will be discussed include: the electrochemical techniques for catalyst evaluation; the contrasting redox catalysis with chemical catalysis; the applications of homogeneous redox catalysis to the kinetic and thermodynamic characterization of reaction sequences; the reduction of dioxygen and carbon dioxide; and finally, the oxidation of water.