Electrocatalytic reduction of molecular oxygen by mononuclear and binuclear cobalt phthalocyanines

Investigations of the electrocatalytic activity of mononuclear and binuclear cobalt phthalocyanines for the reduction of molecular oxygen established that the latter compounds are more effective catalysts than the corresponding mononuclear species. A correlation between the half-band widths for the Q band of these species and their catalytic efficiency, expressed as a kinetically-limited current, suggests that the increase in activity may be attributed to electronic coupling between the phthalocyanine rings.