Catalysis by methyltrioxorhenium(VII): reduction of hydronium ions by europium(II) and reduction of perchlorate ions by europium(II) and chromium(II).

The title reactions occur stepwise, the first and fastest being MeReO3 + Eu2+ --> Re(VI) + Eu3+ (k298 = 2.7 x 10(4) L mol(-1) s(-1)), followed by rapid reduction of Re(VI) by Eu2+ to MeReO2. The latter species is reduced by a third Eu2+ to Re(IV), a metastable species characterized by an intense charge transfer band, epsilon410 = 910 L mol(-1) cm(-1) at pH 1; the rate constant for its formation is 61.3 L mol(-1) s(-1), independent of [H+]. Yet another reduction step occurs, during which hydrogen is evolved at a rate v = k[Re(IV)][Eu2+][H+](-1), with k = 2.56 s(-1) at mu = 0.33 mol L(-1). The 410 nm Re(IV) species bears no ionic charge on the basis of the kinetic salt effect. We attribute hydrogen evolution to a reaction between H-ReVO and H3O+, where the hydrido complex arises from the unimolecular rearrangement of Re(III)-OH in a reaction that cannot be detected directly. Chromium(II) ions do not evolve H2, despite E(Cr) degrees approximately E(EU) degrees. We attribute this lack of reactivity to the Re(IV) intermediate being captured as [Re(IV)-O-Cr(III)]2+, with both metals having substitutionally inert d3 electronic configurations. Hydrogen evolution occurs in chloride or triflate media; with perchlorate present, MeReO2 reduces perchlorate to chloride, as reported previously [Abu-Omar, M. M.; Espenson, J. H. Inorg. Chem. 1995, 34, 6239-6240].