A Copper(II) Molecular Catalyst for Efficient and Selective Photochemical Reduction of CO2 to CO in a Water-Containing System.

A catalyst developed from a CuII complex of (Et4 N)[Cu(pyN2Me2 )(HCO2 )]⋅0.5 CH3 OH⋅H2 O (1⋅0.5 CH3 OH⋅H2 O; pyN2Me2 =bis(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-2,6-pyridinedicarboxamidate(2-)) shows a high activity to catalyze the reduction reaction of CO2 to CO driven by visible light in 4:1 acetonitrile/water (v:v) using [Ru(phen)3 ](PF6 )2 as photosensitizer and TEOA as sacrificial reductant, with a high TON of 9900 and a high CO selectivity of 98 %. The results of isotope labeling experiment, durability tests and energy dispersive spectroscopy reveal that 1 is robust during the photocatalytic process.