The Influence of an Extended π Electron System on the Electrochemical Properties and Oxidizing Activity of a Series of Iron(III) Porphyrazines with Bulky Pyrrolyl Substituents

The present study investigates four iron(II/III) porphyrazines with extending pyrrolyl peripheral substituents to understand the impact of introduced phenyl rings on the macrocycle’s electrochemical and spectroelectrochemical properties as well as their activity in oxidation reactions. The electrochemical studies showed six well-defined redox processes and quasi-reversible one-electron transfers—two originating from the iron cation and four related to the ring. Adding phenyl rings to the periphery increased the electrochemical gap by 0.1 V. The UV–Vis spectra changes were observed at the applied potential of −1.3 V with the presence of additional red-shifted bands. The oxidizing studies showed increased efficiency in the oxidation reaction of the reference substrate in the cases of Pz1 and Pz2 in both studied oxygen atom donors. The calculated reaction rates in t-BuOOH were 12.0 and 15.0 mmol/min, respectively, for Pz1 and Pz2, compared to 6.4 for Pz3 and 1.8 mmol/min for Pz4. The study identified potential applications for these porphyrazines in mimicking cytochrome P450 prosthetic groups for oxidation and hydroxylation reactions in the future.