Design of C^N^N type ligands and their Ir(III)-complexes to prevent deterioration pathways during the photocatalytic water reduction.

• Applicant: Dr. Johanna Hummel
• Subject Area: Organic Molecular Chemistry - Synthesis and Characterisation
• Term: from 2008 to 2009
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 81098486

As a result of the diminishing resources of the earth, the conversion of sunlight into usable forms of energy is of increasing interest. Transition metal complexes can be used in systems capable of the photoinduced catalytic generation of molecular Hydrogen from water. Iridium(III)-complexes function as efficient photosensitizers in such systems due to their photophysical properties that can be easily tuned by variation of the ligands and their substitution pattern. A major problem using Ir(III)- complexes in photocatalytic water reduction is ligand dissociation, more precisely, the dissociation of a bipyridine unit in [Ir(ppy)2bpy]PF6, resulting in a decrease of the hydrogen production over a period of time. To avoid this deterioration pathway, C^N^N-ligands will be utilized.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Dr. Stefan Bernhard