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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Developing Photosensitizer-Cobaloxime Hybrids for Solar-Driven H2 Production in Aqueous Aerobic Conditions
Published on: October 5, 2019
Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution by [FeFe] hydrogenase mimics in homogeneous solution
Wen-Guang Wang1, Feng Wang, Hong-Yan Wang
1Key Laboratory of Photochemical Conversion and Optoelectronic Materials, Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, PR China.
Abstract:
To mimic [FeFe] hydrogenases (H(2)ases) in nature, molecular photocatalysts 1 a, 1 b, and 1 c anchoring rhenium(I) complex S to one of the iron cores of [FeFe]-H(2)ases model complex C, have been constructed for H(2) generation by visible light in homogeneous solution. The time-dependence of H(2) evolution and a spectroscopic study demonstrate that the orientation of S and the specific bridge in 1 a, 1 b, and 1 c are important both for the electron-transfer step from the excited S* to the catalytic C, and the formation of unprecedented long-lived charge separation for 1 a (780 micros), 1 b, and 1 c (>2 ms) in [FeFe]-H(2)ases mimics. The fast forward electron-transfer step from the excited S* to the catalytic C but the slow back electron-transfer step of the charge-recombination in the designed photocatalysts 1 a, 1 b, and 1 c are reminiscent of the behavior of [FeFe]-H(2)ases in nature.
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