Discovery of an efficient catalyst bearing low overpotential toward water oxidation is a key step for light-driven water splitting into dioxygen and dihydrogen. A mononuclear ruthenium complex, Ru(II)L(pic)(2) (1) (H(2)L = 2,2'-bipyridine-6,6'-dicarboxylic acid; pic = 4-picoline), was found capable of oxidizing water eletrochemically at a relatively low potential and promoting light-driven water oxidation using a three-component system composed of a photosensitizer, sacrificial electron acceptor, and complex 1. The detailed electrochemical properties of 1 were studied, and the onset potentials of the electrochemically catalytic curves in pH 7.0 and pH 1.0 solutions are 1.0 and 1.5 V, respectively. The low catalytic potential of 1 under neutral conditions allows the use of [Ru(bpy)(3)](2+) and even [Ru(dmbpy)(3)](2+) as a photosensitizer for photochemical water oxidation. Two different sacrificial electron acceptors, [Co(NH(3))(5)Cl]Cl(2) and Na(2)S(2)O(8), were used to generate the oxidized state of ruthenium tris(2,2'-bipyridyl) photosensitizers. In addition, a two-hour photolysis of 1 in a pH 7.0 phosphate buffer did not lead to obvious degradation, indicating the good photostability of our catalyst. However, under conditions of light-driven water oxidation, the catalyst deactivates quickly. In both solution and the solid state under aerobic conditions, complex 1 gradually decomposed via oxidative degradation of its ligands, and two of the decomposed products, sp(3) C-H bond oxidized Ru complexes, were identified. The capability of oxidizing the sp(3) C-H bond implies the presence of a highly oxidizing Ru species, which might also cause the final degradation of the catalyst.

Complexes [{(mu-SCH2)2NCH2C6H5}{Fe(CO)2L(1)}{Fe(CO)2L(2)}] (L(1) = CO, L(2) = P(Pyr) 3, 2; L(1) = L(2) = P(Pyr)3, 3) were prepared, which have the lowest reduction potentials for the mono- and double-CO-displaced diiron complexes reported so far. Hydrogen evolution, driven by visible light, was successfully observed for a three-component system, consisting of a ruthenium polypyridine complex, the biomimetic model complex 2 or 3, and ascorbic acid as both electron and proton donor in CH3CN/H2O. The electron transfer from photogenerated Ru(bpy)3(+) to 2 or 3 was detected by laser flash photolysis. Under optimal conditions, the total turnover number for hydrogen evolution was 4.3 based on 2 and 86 based on Ru(bpy)3(2+) in a three-hour photolysis.

Hydrogen evolution was observed from the noble-metal-free catalyst systems, comprising Rose Bengal, BF x -bridged cobaloximes, and triethylamine, in an aqueous solution under irradiation of visible light. Two types of BF x -bridged cobaloximesnamely, the annulated cobaloximes [Co(dmgBF2)2(H2O)2] (1, dmgBF2 = (difluoroboryl)dimethylglyoximate anion) and [Co(dpgBF2)2(H2O)2] (2, dpgBF2 = (difluoroboryl)diphenylglyoximate anion), and the clathrochelated cobaloximes [Co(dmg(BF)2/3)3](BF4) (3) and [Co(dpg(BF)2/3)3](BF4) (4)were used as catalysts. Among the four cobalt complexes, complex 1 displayed the highest hydrogen-evolving efficiency, with turnovers up to 327. Complexes 2 and 4 that bear the diphenylglyoximate ligands exhibited much lower efficiencies as compared with their analogues 1 and 3 that have the dimethylglyoximate ligands. The hydrogen-evolving efficiency of the annulated cobalt(II) complex 1 that contains two labile axial ligands is more than three times as high as that of the encapsulated cobalt(III) complex 3 that has a single macrobicyclic ligand. The different pathways for formation of the cobalt(I) species from these two types of cobaloximes are discussed on the basis of the results obtained from fluorescence and laser flash photolysis spectroscopic studies.