Mechanistic Analysis of Water Oxidation Catalyst cis-[Ru(bpy)2(H2O)2]2+: Effect of Dimerization

While the catalytic activity of some Ru-based polypyridine complexes in water oxidation is well established, the relationship between their chemical structure and activity is less known. In this work, the single site Ru complex [Ru(bpy)2(H2O)2] (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine)—which can exist as either a cis isomer or a trans isomer—is investigated. While a difference in the catalytic activity of these two isomers is well established, with cis-[Ru(bpy)2(H2O)2] being much more active, no mechanistic explanation of this fact has been presented. The oxygen evolving capability of both isomers at multiple concentrations has been investigated, with cis-[Ru(bpy)2(H2O)2] showing a second-order dependence of O2 evolution activity with increased catalyst concentration. Measurement of the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum of cis-[Ru(bpy)2(H2O)2], shortly after oxidation with CeIV, showed the presence of a signal matching that of cis,cis-[Ru(bpy)2(H2O)ORu(bpy)2(OH)], also known as “blue dimer”. The formation of dimers is a concentration-dependent process, which could serve to explain the greater than first order increase in catalytic activity. The trans isomer showed a first-order dependence of O2 evolution on catalyst concentration. Behavior of [Ru(bpy)2(H2O)2] isomers is compared with other Ru-based catalysts, in particular [Ru(tpy)(bpy)(H2O)] (tpy = 2,2′;6,2′ ′-terpyridine).