In this paper, control of open quantum systems with emphasis on the control of surface photochemical reactions is presented. A quantum system in a condensed phase undergoes strong dissipative processes. From a theoretical viewpoint, it is important to model such processes in a rigorous way. In this work, the description of open quantum systems is realized within the surrogate hamiltonian approach [R. Baer and R. Kosloff, J. Chem. Phys. 106, 8862 (1997)]. An efficient and accurate method to find control fields is optimal control theory (OCT) [W. Zhu, J. Botina, and H. Rabitz, J. Chem. Phys. 108, 1953 (1998); Y. Ohtsuki, G. Turinici, and H. Rabitz, J. Chem. Phys. 120, 5509 (2004)]. To gain control of open quantum systems, the surrogate hamiltonian approach and OCT, with time-dependent targets, are combined. Three open quantum systems are investigated by the combined method, a harmonic oscillator immersed in an ohmic bath, CO adsorbed on a platinum surface, and NO adsorbed on a nickel oxide surface. Throughout this paper, atomic units, i.e., ℏ = m(e) = e = a(0) = 1, have been used unless otherwise stated.