New oxygen-evolving complexes in artificial photosynthesis system splitting water into oxygen and hydrogen

Photosynthesis is an attractive way to convert solar energy into fuel based on the concepts of natural photosynthesis. To mimic the donor side of photosystem in green plants, new ruthenium complexes containing coordinating sites for two Ru ions were studied. The two "out-stretching" arms of morpholine on tert-butyl-phenol were expected to provide the function of anchoring water via a chain "N..H-O-H..N" by the hydrogen bound function between two nitrogen atoms in morpholine and two hydrogen atoms in H ₂O. It would decrease distance between anchored water and reactive center Ru(III,III) and benefit the following water oxidation with less external influence. Electrochemistry and the photo-induced intramolecular electron transfer from Ru(III,III) to photogenerated Ru(III) were investigated. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 228th ACS National Meeting (Philadelphia, PA, 8/22-26/2004).