Electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution of manganese corrole

A series of manganese corroles bearing different substituents had been prepared and characterized by UV–vis, 1H NMR, 19F NMR, HRMS and XPS. These manganese corrole complexes were applied to electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) for the first time. The results showed that manganese corroles are effective catalysts for HER in DMF solvent by using acetic acid (AcOH), trifluoroacetic Acid (TFA) and p-toluenesulfonic acid (TsOH) proton sources, and strong acid leads to higher electrocatalytic activity. When using TsOH as proton source, protonation of corroles ligand may be involved in HER. The electrocatalytic HER activity can be improved by increasing the electron-withdrawing substituent of the corrole macrocycle in both organic and aqueous media.