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Cobalt dithiolene complexes are a new class of H2-evolving catalysts. Here we describe the preparation, the structure and the catalytic activity of an original cobalt complex using a bioinspired ligand, a quinoxaline-pyran-fused dithiolene derivative (qpdt(2-)) that mimics the molybdopterin cofactor present in the active sites of formate dehydrogenases. This complex displays very good activity for electrochemical proton reduction under weak acid conditions in terms of turnover frequency, faradic yields and stability. Density functional theory calculations show that protonation of a nitrogen atom of the ligand decreases overpotentials by 520 mV and H2 formation proceeds via protonation of an intermediate Co-H hydride, with an adjacent S atom of the dithiolene ligand serving as a proton relay.

The [Cs((2 + x))][H(3)O((1 - x))]Tc(2)Br(8)·4.6H(2)O (x = 0.221) salt has been synthesized and characterized by single crystal XRD. Multi-configurational quantum chemical calculations on Tc(2)X(8)(n-) (X = Cl, Br; n = 2, 3) have been performed and indicate the π component in the Tc-Tc bond to be stronger for n = 3.