Chinese Journal of Catalysis ›› 2018, Vol. 39 ›› Issue (3): 463-471.DOI: 10.1016/S1872-2067(17)62923-1

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Water oxidation catalytic ability of polypyridine complex containing a μ-OH, μ-O2 dicobalt(iii) core

Junqi Lina, Baochun Maa, Mindong Chenb, Yong Dinga,b   

  1. a State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Key Laboratory of Nonferrous Metal Chemistry and Resources Utilization of Gansu Province, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, China;
    b Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control(AEMPC), Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, Jiangsu, China
  • Received:2017-09-16 Revised:2017-09-27 Online:2018-03-18 Published:2018-03-10
  • Contact: 10.1016/S1872-2067(17)62923-1
  • Supported by:

    This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21173105, 21773096), Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (lzujbky-2016-k08), Open fund by Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control (KHK1701) and the Natural Science Foundation of Gansu (17JR5RA186).

Abstract:

Two polypyridine complexes containing μ-OH, μ-O2 dicobalt(Ⅲ) cores,[(TPA)Co(μ-OH)(μ-O2)Co(TPA)](ClO4)3 and[(BPMEN)Co(μ-OH)(μ-O2)Co(BPMEN)](ClO4)3 (TPA=tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine, BPMEN=N, N'-dimethyl-N, N'-bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)ethane-1,2-diamine), have previously been reported as inactive in the light-driven water oxidation reaction (ACS Catal., 2016, 6, 5062-5068). Herein, another dicobalt(Ⅲ) compound, μ-OH, μ-O2-[{(enN4)2Co2}](ClO4)3 (enN4=1,6-bis(2-pyridyl-2,5-diazaocta-2,6-diene), with a similar core structure was synthesized, characterized, and applied to the light-driven water oxidation reaction. Collective experiments showed that the complex itself was also inactive in the light-driven water oxidation, and that the activity observed originated from Co(Ⅱ) impurities. This research establishes that complexes possessing a μ-OH, μ-O2 dicobalt(Ⅲ) core structure are not appropriate choices for true molecular catalysts of water oxidation.

Key words: Water oxidation, Photocatalysis, Catalytic ability, Cobalt oxide, Complex