Effect of Ionic Liquid Electrolyte on Electrochemical and Electrocatalytical Behaviours of Tri-Iron Cluster

The tri-iron cluster, [Fe(3)(mu(3)-S)(2)(CO)(9)], has been reported as a catalysis to proton reduction at low overpotential. In this paper, the electrochemical behaviour of the tri-iron cluster and its catalytic effect on hydrogen evolution were investigated further by using ionic liquid (1-dodecane-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, IL) as electrolyte in dichloromethane, considering that IL has unique chemical and physical properties. In contrast to the conventional electrolytes (such as [NBu(4)]BF(4)), the IL electrolyte increases the stability of the monoanionic radical generated from the first reduction and the electrocatalytic efficiency on proton reduction has also been improved.