A ruthenium-based biomimetic hydrogen cluster for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation from formic acid

Abstract

A ruthenium-based biomimetic hydrogen cluster, [Ru2 (CO)6 (μ-SCH2 CH2 CH2 S)] (1), has been synthesized and, in the presence of the P ligand tri(o-tolyl)phosphine, demonstrated efficient photocatalytic hydrogen generation from formic acid decomposition. Turnover frequencies (TOFs) of 5500 h(-1) and turnover numbers (TONs) over 24 700 were obtained with less than 50 ppm of the catalyst, thus representing the highest TOFs for ruthenium complexes as well as the best efficiency for photocatalytic hydrogen production from formic acid. Moreover, 1 showed high stability with no significant degradation of the photocatalyst observed after prolonged photoirradiation at 90 °C.

Keywords: P ligands; biomimetic synthesis; hydrogen; photocatalysis; ruthenium.