Electrocatalytic four-electron reduction of oxygen to water by a highly flexible cofacial cobalt bisporphyrin

Dicobalt(II) cofacial bisporphyrins anchored by dibenzofuran (DPD) and xanthene (DPX) are efficient electrocatalysts for the four-electron reduction of oxygen to water despite their ca. 4 Å difference in metal–metal distances, suggesting that the considerable longitudinal Pac-Man flexibility of the pillared platforms is the origin for the similar catalytic reactivity of these structurally disparate systems.