POLY(PYRROLE-MANGANESE PORPHYRIN) - A CATALYTIC ELECTRODE MATERIAL ASA MODEL SYSTEM FOR OLEFIN EPOXIDATION AND DRUG-METABOLISM WITH MOLECULAR-OXYGEN

The oxidative electropolymerization of three pyrrole-substituted manga nese tetraphenylporphyrins can be used to coat Pt or C electrodes with polymeric films able to catalyse the epoxidation of cyclo-octene and stilbene with molecular oxygen. Cross-linked polymers prepared from mo nomers containing two or three pyrrole groups, and thus having a bette r polymerizability, present a lower activity than the polymeric films synthesized from the monomer containing only one pyrrole moiety. Confi nement of the catalyst on the electrode surface markedly improves its stability compared with that of homogeneous electrocatalytic systems. This catalytic electrode material has been successfully applied to the preparation of oxidized metabolites of a drug.