Abhijit Nayek

@iacs.res.in

Senior Research Fellow, School of Chemical Sciences
Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science

https://researchid.co/abhijitrkm10

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Electrochemistry, Spectroscopy

Scopus Publications

307

Scholar Citations

Scholar h-index

Scholar i10-index

Scopus Publications

Second sphere control of CO<inf>2</inf> reduction selectivity by iron porphyrins: The role of spin state
Suman Patra, Soumili Ghosh, Soumya Samanta, Abhijit Nayek, and Abhishek Dey
Elsevier BV

Amplifying Reactivity of Bio-Inspired [FeFe]-Hydrogenase Mimics by Organic Nanotubes
Md Estak Ahmed, Puspendu Das, Sk Mustak Ahamed, Samir Chattopadhyay, Abhijit Nayek, Mintu Mondal, Sudip Malik, and Abhishek Dey
Wiley
AbstractA bio‐inspired FeFe hydrogenase model which catalyses hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic solutions is immobilized in polyaniline (PANI)‐based nanotubes. A combination of analytical techniques reveals that this construct maintains both the molecular signatures of the bio‐inspired complex and the material properties of PANI. The amine and imine‐rich environment of the PANI chain amplifies the inherent HER activity of the bio‐inspired complex, allowing electrocatalytic HER at neutral pH, with lower overpotentials and higher current densities compared to the bio‐inspired complex alone. This construct retains the oxygen stability of the bio‐inspired complex and remains stable through several hours of aerobic electrolysis, producing only 6.5 % H₂O₂ from the competing oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).

Phenoxide coordination to Fe(III) tetraphenylporphyrin: Exploring antibacterial and electrocatalytic HER activity
Moumita Patra, Tarun Kumar Das, Arijit Saha, Tania Das, Arpita Patra, Somenath Garai, Abhijit Nayek, Ujjal Kanti Roy, and Susovan Bhowmik
Elsevier BV

Low Potential CO<inf>2</inf> Reduction by Inert Fe(II)-Macrobicyclic Complex: A New Concept of Cavity Assisted CO<inf>2</inf> Activation
Piyali Sarkar, Sayan Sarkar, Abhijit Nayek, Nayarassery N. Adarsh, Arun K. Pal, Ayan Datta, Abhishek Dey, and Pradyut Ghosh
Wiley
AbstractThe advantage of a pre‐organized π‐cavity of Fe(II) complex of a newly developed macrobicycle cryptand is explored for CO2 reduction by overcoming the problem of high overpotential associated with the inert nature of the cryptate. Thus, a bipyridine‐centered tritopic macrobicycle having a molecular π‐cavity capable of forming Fe(II) complex as well as potential for CO2 encapsulation is synthesized. The inert Fe(II)‐cryptate shows much lower potential in cyclic voltammetry than the Fe(II)‐tris‐dimethylbipyridine (Fe‐MBP) core. Interestingly, this cryptate shows electrochemical CO2 reduction at a considerably lower potential than the Fe‐MBP inert core. Therefore, this study represents that a well‐structured π‐cavity may generate a new series of molecular catalysts for the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), even with the inert metal complexes.

Hydrogen Oxidation by Bioinspired Models of [FeFe]-Hydrogenase
Abhijit Nayek, Rabin Kumar Poria, Md Estak Ahmed, Suman Patra, Somdatta Ghosh Dey, and Abhishek Dey
American Chemical Society (ACS)

Facile electrocatalytic proton reduction by a [Fe-Fe]-hydrogenase bio-inspired synthetic model bearing a terminal CN<sup>−</sup> ligand
Abhijit Nayek, Subal Dey, Suman Patra, Atanu Rana, Pauline N. Serrano, Simon J. George, Stephen P. Cramer, Somdatta Ghosh Dey, and Abhishek Dey
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
An azadithiolate bridged CN− bound pentacarbonyl bis-iron complex, mimicking the active site of [Fe–Fe] H2ase is synthesized, which effectively reduces H+ to H2 between pH 0–3 at diffusion-controlled rates (1011 M−1 s−1) i.e. 108 s−1 at pH 3 with an overpotential of 140 mV.

Reduction of Sulfur Dioxide to Sulfur Monoxide by Ferrous Porphyrin**
Aishik Bhattacharya, Arnab Kumar Nath, Arnab Ghatak, Abhijit Nayek, Souvik Dinda, Rajat Saha, Somdatta Ghosh Dey, and Abhishek Dey
Wiley
AbstractThe reduction of SO2 to fixed forms of sulfur can address the growing concerns regarding its detrimental effect on health and the environment as well as enable its valorization into valuable chemicals. The naturally occurring heme enzyme sulfite reductase (SiR) is known to reduce SO2 to H2S and is an integral part of the global sulfur cycle. However, its action has not yet been mimicked in artificial systems outside of the protein matrix even after several decades of structural elucidation of the enzyme. While the coordination of SO2 to transition metals is documented, its reduction using molecular catalysts has remained elusive. Herein reduction of SO2 by iron(II) tetraphenylporphyrin is demonstrated. A combination of spectroscopic data backed up by theoretical calculations indicate that FeIITPP reduces SO2 by 2e−/2H+ to form an intermediate [FeIII−SO]+ species, also proposed for SiR, which releases SO. The SO obtained from the chemical reduction of SO2 could be evidenced in the form of a cheletropic adduct of butadiene resulting in an organic sulfoxide.

Second-Sphere Hydrogen-Bond Donors and Acceptors Affect the Rate and Selectivity of Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction by Iron Porphyrins Differently
Arnab Ghatak, Soumya Samanta, Abhijit Nayek, Sudipta Mukherjee, Somdatta Ghosh Dey, and Abhishek Dey
American Chemical Society (ACS)
The factors that control the rate and selectivity of 4e-/4H+ O2 reduction are important for efficient energy transformation as well as for understanding the terminal step of respiration in aerobic organisms. Inspired by the design of naturally occurring enzymes which are efficient catalysts for O2 and H2O2 reduction, several artificial systems have been generated where different second-sphere residues have been installed to enhance the rate and efficiency of the 4e-/4H+ O2 reduction. These include hydrogen-bonding residues like amines, carboxylates, ethers, amides, phenols, etc. In some cases, improvements in the catalysis were recorded, whereas in some cases improvements were marginal or nonexistent. In this work, we use an iron porphyrin complex with pendant 1,10-phenanthroline residues which show a pH-dependent variation of the rate of the electrochemical O2 reduction reaction (ORR) over 2 orders of magnitude. In-situ surface-enhanced resonance Raman spectroscopy reveals the presence of different intermediates at different pH's reflecting different rate-determining steps at different pH's. These data in conjunction with density functional theory calculations reveal that when the distal 1,10-phenanthroline is neutral it acts as a hydrogen-bond acceptor which stabilizes H2O (product) binding to the active FeII state and retards the reaction. However, when the 1,10-phenanthroline is protonated, it acts as a hydrogen-bond donor which enhances O2 reduction by stabilizing FeIII-O2.- and FeIII-OOH intermediates and activating the O-O bond for cleavage. On the basis of these data, general guidelines for controlling the different possible rate-determining steps in the complex multistep 4e-/4H+ ORR are developed and a bioinspired principle-based design of an efficient electrochemical ORR is presented.

Bioinorganic Chemistry on Electrodes: Methods to Functional Modeling
Abhijit Nayek, Md Estak Ahmed, Soumya Samanta, Souvik Dinda, Suman Patra, Somdatta Ghosh Dey, and Abhishek Dey
American Chemical Society (ACS)
One of the major goals of bioinorganic chemistry has been to mimic the function of elegant metalloenzymes. Such functional modeling has been difficult to attain in solution, in particular, for reactions that require multiple protons and multiple electrons (nH+/ne-). Using a combination of heterogeneous electrochemistry, electrode and molecule design one may control both electron transfer (ET) and proton transfer (PT) of these nH+/ne- reactions. Such control can allow functional modeling of hydrogenases (H+ + e- → 1/2 H2), cytochrome c oxidase (O2 + 4 e- + 4 H+ → 2 H2O), monooxygenases (RR'CH2 + O2 + 2 e- + 2 H+ → RR'CHOH + H2O) and dioxygenases (S + O2 → SO2; S = organic substrate) in aqueous medium and at room temperatures. In addition, these heterogeneous constructs allow probing unnatural bioinspired reactions and estimation of the inner- and outer-sphere reorganization energy of small molecules and proteins.

A Bidirectional Bioinspired [FeFe]-Hydrogenase Model
Md Estak Ahmed, Abhijit Nayek, Alenka Križan, Nathan Coutard, Adina Morozan, Somdatta Ghosh Dey, Reiner Lomoth, Leif Hammarström, Vincent Artero, and Abhishek Dey
American Chemical Society (ACS)
With the price-competitiveness of solar and wind power, hydrogen technologies may be game changers for a cleaner, defossilized, and sustainable energy future. H2 can indeed be produced in electrolyzers from water, stored for long periods, and converted back into power, on demand, in fuel cells. The feasibility of the latter process critically depends on the discovery of cheap and efficient catalysts able to replace platinum group metals at the anode and cathode of fuel cells. Bioinspiration can be key for designing such alternative catalysts. Here we show that a novel class of iron-based catalysts inspired from the active site of [FeFe]-hydrogenase behave as unprecedented bidirectional electrocatalysts for interconverting H2 and protons efficiently under near-neutral aqueous conditions. Such bioinspired catalysts have been implemented at the anode of a functional membrane-less H2/O2 fuel cell device.

Biochemical and artificial pathways for the reduction of carbon dioxide, nitrite and the competing proton reduction: Effect of 2<sup>nd</sup>sphere interactions in catalysis
Sk Amanullah, Paramita Saha, Abhijit Nayek, Md Estak Ahmed, and Abhishek Dey
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Reduction of oxides and oxoanions of carbon and nitrogen are of great contemporary importance as they are crucial for a sustainable environment.

Oxygen Reduction by Iron Porphyrins with Covalently Attached Pendent Phenol and Quinol
Asmita Singha, Arnab Mondal, Abhijit Nayek, Somdatta Ghosh Dey, and Abhishek Dey
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Phenols and quinols participate in both proton transfer and electron transfer processes in nature either in distinct elementary steps or in a concerted fashion. Recent investigations using synthetic heme/Cu models and iron porphyrins have indicated that phenols/quinols can react with both ferric superoxide and ferric peroxide intermediates formed during O2 reduction through a proton coupled electron transfer (PCET) process as well as via hydrogen atom transfer (HAT). Oxygen reduction by iron porphyrins bearing covalently attached pendant phenol and quinol groups is investigated. The data show that both of these can electrochemically reduce O2 selectively by 4e-/4H+ to H2O with very similar rates. However, the mechanism of the reaction, investigated both using heterogeneous electrochemistry and by trapping intermediates in organic solutions, can be either PCET or HAT and is governed by the thermodynamics of these intermediates involved. The results suggest that, while the reduction of the FeIII-O2̇- species to FeIII-OOH proceeds via PCET when a pendant phenol is present, it follows a HAT pathway with a pendant quinol. In the absence of the hydroxyl group the O2 reduction proceeds via an electron transfer followed by proton transfer to the FeIII-O2̇- species. The hydrogen bonding from the pendant phenol group to FeIII-O2̇- and FeIII-OOH species provides a unique advantage to the PCET process by lowering the inner-sphere reorganization energy by limiting the elongation of the O-O bond upon reduction.

A single iron porphyrin shows ph dependent switch between "push" and "pull" effects in electrochemical oxygen reduction
Sudipta Mukherjee, Abhijit Nayek, Sarmistha Bhunia, Somdatta Ghosh Dey, and Abhishek Dey
American Chemical Society (ACS)
The "push-pull" effects associated with heme enzymes manifest themselves through highly evolved distal amino acid environments and axial ligands to the heme. These conserved residues enhance their reactivities by orders of magnitude relative to small molecules that mimic the primary coordination. An instance of a mononuclear iron porphyrin with covalently attached pendent phenanthroline groups is reported which exhibit reactivity indicating a pH dependent "push" to "pull" transition in the same molecule. The pendant phenanthroline residues provide proton transfer pathways into the iron site, ensuring selective 4e-/4H+ reduction of O2 to water. The protonation of these residues at lower pH mimics the pull effect of peroxidases, and a coordination of an axial hydroxide ligand at high pH emulates the push effect of P450 monooxygenases. Both effects enhance the rate of O2 reduction by orders of magnitude over its value at neutral pH while maintaining exclusive selectivity for 4e-/4H+ oxygen reduction reaction.

Induction of Enzyme-like Peroxidase Activity in an Iron Porphyrin Complex Using Second Sphere Interactions
Snehadri Bhakta, Abhijit Nayek, Bijan Roy, and Abhishek Dey
American Chemical Society (ACS)
Emulating enzymatic reactivity using small molecules has been a long-time challenging pursuit of the scientific community. Peroxidases, ubiquitous heme enzymes that are involved in hormone synthesis and the immune system, have been a prime target of such efforts due to their tremendous potential in the chemical industry as well as in wastewater treatment. Here it is demonstrated that inclusion of a second sphere guanidine moiety in an iron porphyrin not only makes this small molecule a veritable peroxidase catalyst but also offers an auxiliary binding site for organic substrates, facilitating their rapid oxidation with a green oxidant like H2O2. This small molecule analogue exhibits a "ping-pong" mechanism and Michaelis-Menten type kinetics, which is generally typical of metallo-enzymes and follows a mechanism of the natural enzyme in its entirety, including the formation of compound I as the primary oxidant.

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

Second sphere control of CO2 reduction selectivity by iron porphyrins: The role of spin state
S Patra, S Ghosh, S Samanta, A Nayek, A Dey
Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 1023, 123439 2025

Amplifying Reactivity of Bio‐Inspired [FeFe]‐Hydrogenase Mimics by Organic Nanotubes
ME Ahmed, P Das, SM Ahamed, S Chattopadhyay, A Nayek, M Mondal, ...
Chemistry–A European Journal 30 (68), e202403011 2024

Hydrogen Oxidation by Bioinspired Models of [FeFe]-Hydrogenase
A Nayek, RK Poria, ME Ahmed, S Patra, SG Dey, A Dey
ACS Organic & Inorganic Au 2024

Phenoxide coordination to Fe (III) tetraphenylporphyrin: Exploring antibacterial and electrocatalytic HER activity
M Patra, TK Das, A Saha, T Das, A Patra, S Garai, A Nayek, UK Roy, ...
Inorganica Chimica Acta 568, 122084 2024

Low Potential CO₂ Reduction by Inert Fe(II)‐Macrobicyclic Complex: A New Concept of Cavity Assisted CO₂ Activation
P Sarkar, S Sarkar, A Nayek, NN Adarsh, AK Pal, A Datta, A Dey, P Ghosh
Small 20 (10), 2304794 2024

Facile electrocatalytic proton reduction by a [Fe–Fe]-hydrogenase bio-inspired synthetic model bearing a terminal CN− ligand
A Nayek, S Dey, S Patra, A Rana, PN Serrano, SJ George, SP Cramer, ...
Chemical Science 15 (6), 2167-2180 2024

Reduction of sulfur dioxide to sulfur monoxide by ferrous porphyrin
A Bhattacharya, A Kumar Nath, A Ghatak, A Nayek, S Dinda, R Saha, ...
Angewandte Chemie International Edition 62 (10), e202215235 2023

Second-Sphere Hydrogen-Bond Donors and Acceptors Affect the Rate and Selectivity of Electrochemical Oxygen Reduction by Iron Porphyrins Differently
A Ghatak, S Samanta, A Nayek, S Mukherjee, SG Dey, A Dey
Inorganic Chemistry 61 (33), 12931-12947 2022

Bioinorganic chemistry on electrodes: methods to functional modeling
A Nayek, ME Ahmed, S Samanta, S Dinda, S Patra, SG Dey, A Dey
Journal of the American Chemical Society 144 (19), 8402-8429 2022

A bidirectional bioinspired [FeFe]-hydrogenase model
ME Ahmed, A Nayek, A Križan, N Coutard, A Morozan, S Ghosh Dey, ...
Journal of the American Chemical Society 144 (8), 3614-3625 2022

Biochemical and artificial pathways for the reduction of carbon dioxide, nitrite and the competing proton reduction: effect of 2 nd sphere interactions in catalysis
S Amanullah, P Saha, A Nayek, ME Ahmed, A Dey
Chemical Society Reviews 50 (6), 3755-3823 2021

Oxygen reduction by iron porphyrins with covalently attached pendent phenol and quinol
A Singha, A Mondal, A Nayek, SG Dey, A Dey
Journal of the American Chemical Society 142 (52), 21810-21828 2020

A single iron porphyrin shows pH dependent switch between “Push” and “Pull” effects in electrochemical oxygen reduction
S Mukherjee, A Nayek, S Bhunia, SG Dey, A Dey
Inorganic Chemistry 59 (19), 14564-14576 2020

Induction of enzyme-like peroxidase activity in an iron porphyrin complex using second sphere interactions
S Bhakta, A Nayek, B Roy, A Dey
Inorganic Chemistry 58 (5), 2954-2964 2019

Alkoxy group facilitated ring closing metathesis
A NAYEK, S BANERJEE, S SINHA, S GHOSH
Tetrahedron letters 45 (34) 2004

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

Oxygen reduction by iron porphyrins with covalently attached pendent phenol and quinol
A Singha, A Mondal, A Nayek, SG Dey, A Dey
Journal of the American Chemical Society 142 (52), 21810-21828 2020
Citations: 57

A bidirectional bioinspired [FeFe]-hydrogenase model
ME Ahmed, A Nayek, A Križan, N Coutard, A Morozan, S Ghosh Dey, ...
Journal of the American Chemical Society 144 (8), 3614-3625 2022
Citations: 53

Induction of enzyme-like peroxidase activity in an iron porphyrin complex using second sphere interactions
S Bhakta, A Nayek, B Roy, A Dey
Inorganic Chemistry 58 (5), 2954-2964 2019
Citations: 29

Bioinorganic chemistry on electrodes: methods to functional modeling
A Nayek, ME Ahmed, S Samanta, S Dinda, S Patra, SG Dey, A Dey
Journal of the American Chemical Society 144 (19), 8402-8429 2022
Citations: 10

Second sphere control of CO2 reduction selectivity by iron porphyrins: The role of spin state
S Patra, S Ghosh, S Samanta, A Nayek, A Dey
Journal of Organometallic Chemistry 1023, 123439 2025
Citations: 2