Mediator-assisted water oxidation by the ruthenium "blue dimer" cis,cis-[(bpy)2(H2O)RuORu(OH2)(bpy)2]4+.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 19004763.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.0807153105 and PMC identifier 2584677.
- No licence information is recorded for this record.
- Because redistribution is not established, this page shows the abstract only. Follow the links below for the full text.
Abstract
Light-driven water oxidation occurs in oxygenic photosynthesis in photosystem II and provides redox equivalents directed to photosystem I, in which carbon dioxide is reduced. Water oxidation is also essential in artificial photosynthesis and solar fuel-forming reactions, such as water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen (2 H(2)O + 4 h nu --> O(2) + 2 H(2)) or water reduction of CO(2) to methanol (2 H(2)O + CO(2) + 6 h nu --> CH(3)OH + 3/2 O(2)), or hydrocarbons, which could provide clean, renewable energy. The "blue ruthenium dimer," cis,cis-[(bpy)(2)(H(2)O)Ru(III)ORu(III)(OH(2))(bpy)(2)](4+), was the first well characterized molecule to catalyze water oxidation. On the basis of recent insight into the mechanism, we have devised a strategy for enhancing catalytic rates by using kinetically facile electron-transfer mediators. Rate enhancements by factors of up to approximately 30 have been obtained, and preliminary electrochemical experiments have demonstrated that mediator-assisted electrocatalytic water oxidation is also attainable.