A common challenge in the molecular photocatalysis of water splitting toward artificial photosynthesis [1] has been the realization of modular, multicomponent chromophore-catalyst assemblies that can meet the kinetic and thermodynamic requirements whilst successfully integrating both 1) the charge-transfer photoexcitation and accompanying stepwise transfer of a single electron to/from an acceptor/donor at the chromophoric end, and 2) the proton-coupled, multielectron redox buildup and chemical reactivity of the catalytic unit. Of particular interest to us is the potential utilization of visible sunlight energy to photochemically drive the catalytic oxidation of water into dioxygen. This reaction is highly endergonic and mechanistically complex, and involves a four-electron/ four-proton transformation that has been recognized as the bottleneck for the overall water splitting leading to H 2 and O 2 evolution. The photocatalysis of this process remains to be demonstrated in (supra)molecular chemistry.As a step toward this goal, we have designed and prepared a structurally simple dyad assembly of ruthenium complexes that is capable of catalytically performing the homogeneous visible-light photooxidation of organic compounds at ambient conditions in aqueous solution. As a proof of concept, we chose the dehydrogenation of alcohols, which is a thermodynamically uphill conversion involving a two-electron/twoproton coupled process. Besides their practical importance in organic processes, [2] such transformations are also of relevance to hydrogen-based energy technologies because the anodic liberation of protons and electrons [Eq. (1)] can be coupled with recombination on a cathode for H 2 fuel production in an integrated photoelectrochemical cell. The photocatalyst was constructed from ruthenium polypyridyl building blocks using the synthetic strategy shown in Scheme 1. A key consideration in the design of this assembly was the fact that the [Ru 2+ couple has been extensively explored [4,5] in proton-coupled electron-transfer (PCET) reactions [6] and oxidation of organic substrates upon redox activation by either electrochemistry or chemical oxidants, that is, H 2 ORuunit is a well known chromophore [7] , owing to its efficient metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) "pump", with a strong absorption in the visible region. [Ru(tpy) 2 ]2+ is a more appealing alternative to the bipyridine [Ru(bpy) 3 ] 2+ analogue because substitution at the 4-position of terpyridine can be used to afford linear, rigid structures favoring electron-transfer directionality. [7,8] Scheme 1. Synthetic strategy for the preparation of the dyad assembly and its monometallic precursors/components: A) [Ru(tpy)(dmso)Cl 2 ] (0.8 equiv) in N,N-dimethylformamide, reflux; isolation, then NH 4 PF 6 (excess) in water. B) cis-[Ru(bpy)(dmso) 2 Cl 2 ] (1.0 equiv) in methanol, reflux; then NH 4 PF 6 (excess). C) cis-[Ru(bpy)(dmso) 2 Cl 2 ] (0.7 equiv) in N,N-dimethylformamide, reflux; isolation, then NH 4 PF 6 (excess) in water. D) cis-[Ru(tpy)(dmso)Cl 2 ] (1.0...