Mixed 3d-metal oxides are some of the most promising water oxidation catalysts (WOCs), but it is very difficult to know the active site structures and thus structure-catalytic activity correlations at the molecular level in such insoluble materials. This study reports a molecular water oxidation catalyst, [Co2Ni2(PW9O34)2]10- (Co2Ni2P2), that constitutes a molecular model of the heterogeneous WOC, cobalt-nickel oxide. Both Co2Ni2P2 and its isostructural analogue, [Co4(PW9O34)2]10- (Co4P2), have the same CoO5(H2O) active sites but Co2Ni2P2 is an order of magnitude faster than Co4P2. Co2Ni2P2 is prepared by a new synthesis, and both the location and percent occupancy of Co and Ni in Co2Ni2P2 (Co outside and Ni inside the central belt are >97% for each) is confirmed by multiwavelength synchrotron X-radiation anomalous dispersion scattering (synchrotron XRAS), a technique applied for the first time to such complexes. Density functional theory (DFT) studies predicated and reveal that Co4P2 and Co2Ni2P2 have greatly altered frontier orbitals, while stopped-flow kinetic studies and DFT calculations indicate that water oxidation by both complexes follows analogous multi-step mechanisms, including Co-OOH formation, with the energetics of most steps being lower for Co2Ni2P2 than for Co4P2.
