Conjugation effect of the bridging ligand on the CO2 reduction properties in difunctional photocatalysts.

The photocatalytic activity for CO(2) reduction and optical and electrochemical properties of two Ru(II)-Re(I) binuclear complexes [Ru(dmb)(2)LRe(CO)(3)Cl](2+) (Ru-Re and Ru=Re, dmb = 4,4'-dimethyl-2,2'-bipyridine) with 1,2-bis(4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridyl-4-yl)ethane and 1,2-bis(4'-methyl-2,2'-bipyridyl-4-yl)ethene as bridging ligands have been investigated. The conjugation content of the bridging ligands plays an important role in the photocatalytic behavior: a saturated linkage exhibited more efficient than the conjugated.