Department
Chemistry and Biochemistry
Document Type
Article
DOI
10.3390/inorganics6010022
Publication Date
1-25-2018
Abstract
Re(pyNHC-PhCF3)(CO)3Br is a highly active photocatalyst for CO2 reduction. The PhCF3 derivative was previously empirically shown to be a robust catalyst. Here, the role of the PhCF3 group is probed computationally and the robust nature of this catalyst is analyzed with regard to the presence of water and oxygen introduced in controlled amounts during the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to CO with visible light. This complex was found to work well from 0–1% water concentration reproducibly; however, trace amounts of water were required for benchmark Re(bpy)(CO)3Cl to give reproducible reactivity. When ambient air is added to the reaction mixture, the NHC complex was found to retain substantial performance (~50% of optimized reactivity) at up to 40% ambient atmosphere and 60% CO2 while the Re(bpy)(CO)3Cl complex was found to give a dramatically reduced CO2 reduction reactivity upon introduction of ambient atmosphere. Through the use of time-correlated single photon counting studies and prior electrochemical results, we reasoned that this enhanced catalyst resilience is due to a mechanistic difference between the NHC- and bpy-based catalysts. These results highlight an important feature of this NHC-ligated catalyst: substantially enhanced stability toward common reaction contaminates.
Relational Format
journal article
Recommended Citation
Carpenter, C., Brogdon, P., McNamara, L., Tschumper, G., Hammer, N., & Delcamp, J. (2018). A Robust Pyridyl-NHC-Ligated Rhenium Photocatalyst for CO2 Reduction in the Presence of Water and Oxygen. Inorganics, 6(1), 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/inorganics6010022
Accessibility Status
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