Hydrogen-bonded linear chain assemblies of palladium(II)-selenoether complexes: solid state aggregates as templates for nano-structural PdSe leading to efficient electrocatalytic activity.

A analogous series of 2-(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)phenyl substituted selenoether complexes of palladium [PdCl(RSeCHdmpz)]; (R = CHCOOH (1), CHCHCOOH (2), and CHCHOH (3); dmpz = dimethylpyrazole) were ably synthesized in a facile manner and exhaustively characterized. Insight into molecular structures of these complexes was keenly probed through single crystal X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, unfolding the structural scaffolds and laying into molecular aggregation, availed through hydrogen bonding interactions borne out of tethered protic groups. The complexes were converted to capping free palladium selenide (PdSe) nanoparticles through pyrolysis and evaluated for their electrocatalytic efficacy towards the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) in alkaline medium.