Hisao Hori, Frank P. A. Johnson, Kazuhide Koike, Koji Takeuchi, Takashi Ibusuki and Osamu Ishitani
The complex
fac-[Re(bipy)(CO)3(PPh3)]+1+ (bipy = 2,2′-bipyridine) was
converted into a formate complex
fac-[Re(bipy)(CO)3{OC(O)H}] 2 in
a 52.2% yield by irradiation in the presence of triethanolamine (teoa)
and CO2. This photochemical fixation of CO2
proceeds via a unique reaction mechanism: (i)
irradiation of 1+ in teoa–dimethylformamide
(dmf
) resulted in the efficient formation of
fac-[Re(bipy)(CO)3(teoa)]+3+ and
fac-[Re(bipy)(CO)3(dmf
)]+4+ in a quantum yield of 16.9; (ii
)
the ligand substitution was explained in terms of a chain mechanism
involving an initial electron transfer from teoa to excited
1+, followed by substitution of the PPh3
ligand of 1 with teoa and dmf to give 3 and
4; subsequent electron exchange of 3 and 4
with 1+ leads to the formation of
3+ and 4+ accompanied by the
regeneration of 1; (iii
) the formate complex
2 was formed in a quantum yield of
1.1 × 10-3 upon excitation of
3+ and 4+ in the presence of
CO2; (iv) further irradiation after the formation of
2 resulted in the photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to
CO in a quantum yield of 0.05.