Azobenzene-based ruthenium( ii ) catalysts for light-controlled hydrogen generation

A. Telleria (1) , Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen (2) , Z. Freixa (3, 1)

1 UPV / EHU - University of the Basque Country = Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea
2 LPCNO - Laboratoire de physique et chimie des nano-objets
3 Ikerbasque - Basque Foundation for Science

Eight new ruthenium(II) half-sandwich complexes containing azobenzene-appended pyridine (1), bipyridine (2–5) and phosphine (6 and 7) ligands have been synthesized and fully characterized. UV-vis spectroscopic studies showed that the trans-to-cis photoisomerization was strongly inhibited upon coordination to the metal centre in azopyridine-derived ligands 1 and 2, but it remained efficient in azobenzene-appended bipyridine (3–5) and phosphine (6 and 7) ligands. The complexes were tested as precatalysts for photo-controlled hydrogen generation by hydrolytic decomposition of ammonia-borane (AB). In situ irradiation of the reaction mixtures of compounds [Ru(p-Cym)(6)Cl]Cl and [Ru(p-Cym)(7)Cl]Cl induced a clear change in the catalytic reaction rate, serving as a proof of concept for light-controlled hydrogen generation.

Domaines: Chimie de coordination

A. Telleria, Piet W. N. M. van Leeuwen, Z. Freixa. Azobenzene-based ruthenium( ii ) catalysts for light-controlled hydrogen generation. Dalton Transactions, 2017, 46 (11), pp.3569-3578. ⟨hal-02007742⟩