Biphasic water splitting by osmocene.

Ge, Peiyu; Todorova, Tanya K; Patir, Imren Hatay; Olaya, Astrid J; Vrubel, Heron; Mendez, Manuel; Hu, Xile; Corminboeuf, Clémence et al. · Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A · 2012

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

The photochemical reactivity of osmocene in a biphasic water-organic solvent system has been investigated to probe its water splitting properties. The photoreduction of aqueous protons to hydrogen under anaerobic conditions induced by osmocene dissolved in 1,2-dichloroethane and the subsequent water splitting by the osmocenium metal-metal dimer formed during H(2) production were studied by electrochemical methods, UV-visible spectrometry, gas chromatography, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Density functional theory computations were used to validate the reaction pathways.

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