Thermodynamic and Kinetic Aspects of the Binding Reaction of Molecular Oxygen on Co(II) Complexes in Aqueous Solution

A short survey is given of the main characteristics of the reaction of uptake of molecular oxygen by biological dioxygen carriers. Co(II) complexes able to bind dioxygen are then examined in order to determine whether the type and features of the peroxocomplexes formed are related to the nature of the ligand and the solvent. The thermodynamic and kinetic data relative to the formation in aqueous solution of peroxocompounds starting from Co(II) complexes with ligands belonging to three families (open-chain, macrocyclic and macropolytopic) of saturated polyamines are also examined in greater detail.