For decades, the decrease of petroleum resources have been triggering important research on alternative energy sources. While solar energy is regarded as one of the best options, many challenges for harnessing its potential still remain. One major focus of research in this area is the conversion of sunlight into hydrogen (H2), as an energy carrier. A common strategy for this has relied on multi-component systems combining: a photosensitizer, a linker and a catalyst for water splitting. To date, plethora of molecular devices for photocatalytic hydrogen production have been described. However, the photosensitizer most often relies on expensive and scarce transition metals such as Ru(II) or Ir(III), which reduce the scalability potential of this kind of system. The development of efficient photocatalytic complexes using cheap and abundant first row transition metals should provide an important solution to this problem. To this end, we have developed new photocatalytic systems which use a recently reported class of high-functioning Fe(II) photosensitizers based on N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) containing C^N^C pincer type ligand. In addition to their improved excited-state lifetimes, the recent demonstration of efficient electron transfer between these photosensitizers and TiO2 highlights the potential of these systems for photocatalytic hydrogen production. Through synthetic modification of the C^N^C ligands we have been able to incorporate a functional group such as a pyridine which can act as a linker for the catalyst (colloidal K2PtCl4) for hydrogen photo-evolution. The synthesis, photophysical studies and potential for this system to act as catalysts for hydrogen evolution are presented in this oral communication.

Design and studies of novel iron-based complexes for hydrogen photo-evolution

2019 Fall National Meeting

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