Hydrogen production through water splitting is one of the most promising solutions for the storage of renewable energy. [NiFe] hydrogenases are organometallic enzymes containing nickel and iron centres that catalyse hydrogen evolution with performances that rival those of platinum. These enzymes provide inspiration for the design of new molecular catalysts that do not require precious metals. However, all heterodinuclear NiFe models reported so far do not reproduce the Ni-centred reactivity found at the active site of [NiFe] hydrogenases. Here, we report a structural and functional NiFe mimic that displays reactivity at the Ni site. This is shown by the detection of two catalytic intermediates that reproduce structural and electronic features of the Ni-L and Ni-R states of the enzyme during catalytic turnover. Under electrocatalytic conditions, this mimic displays high rates for H evolution (second-order rate constant of 2.5 × 10 M s; turnover frequency of 250 s at 10 mM H concentration) from mildly acidic solutions.

Herein, we describe an uncommon example of a manganese-thiolate complex, which is capable of activating dioxygen and catalyzing its two-electron reduction to generate H2O2. The structurally characterized dimercapto-bridged Mn(II) dimer [Mn(II)2(LS)(LSH)]ClO4 (Mn(II)2SH) is formed by reaction of the LS ligand (2,2'-(2,2'-bipyridine-6,6'-diyl)bis(1,1-diphenylethanethiolate)) with Mn(II). The unusual presence of a pendant thiol group bound to one Mn(II) ion in Mn(II)2SH is evidenced both in the solid state and in solution. The Mn(II)2SH complex reacts with dioxygen in CH3CN, leading to the formation of a rare mono-μ-hydroxo dinuclear Mn(III) complex, [(Mn(III)2(LS)2(OH)]ClO4 (Mn(III)2OH), which has also been structurally characterized. When Mn(II)2SH reacts with O2 in the presence of a proton source, 2,6-lutidinium tetrafluoroborate (up to 50 equiv), the formation of a new Mn species is observed, assigned to a bis-μ-thiolato dinuclear Mn(III) complex with two terminal thiolate groups (Mn(III)2), with the concomitant production of H2O2 up to ∼40% vs Mn(II)2SH. The addition of a catalytic amount of Mn(II)2SH to an air-saturated solution of MenFc (n = 8 or 10) and 2,6-lutidinium tetrafluoroborate results in the quantitative and efficient oxidation of MenFc by O2 to afford the respective ferrocenium derivatives (MenFc(+), with n = 8 or 10). Hydrogen peroxide is mainly produced during the catalytic reduction of dioxygen with 80-84% selectivity, making the Mn(II)2SH complex a rare Mn-based active catalyst for two-electron O2 reduction.

Abstract[NiFe]‐hydrogenase enzymes are efficient catalysts for H2 evolution but their synthetic models have not been reported to be active under aqueous conditions so far. Here we show that a close model of the [NiFe]‐hydrogenase active site can work as a very active and stable heterogeneous H2 evolution catalyst under mildly acidic aqueous conditions. Entry in catalysis is a NiIFeII complex, with electronic structure analogous to the Ni‐L state of the enzyme, corroborating the mechanism modification recently proposed for [NiFe]‐hydrogenases.