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Solar-to-fuel energy conversion relies on the invention of efficient catalysts enabling water oxidation through low-energy pathways. Our aerobic life is based on this strategy, mastered by the natural Photosystem II enzyme, using a tetranuclear Mn-oxo complex as oxygen evolving center. Within artificial devices, water can be oxidized efficiently on tailored metal-oxide surfaces such as RuO2. The quest for catalyst optimization in vitro is plagued by the elusive description of the active sites on bulk oxides. Although molecular mimics of the natural catalyst have been proposed, they generally suffer from oxidative degradation under multiturnover regime. Here we investigate a nano-sized Ru4-polyoxometalate standing as an efficient artificial catalyst featuring a totally inorganic molecular structure with enhanced stability. Experimental and computational evidence reported herein indicates that this is a unique molecular species mimicking oxygenic RuO2 surfaces. Ru4-polyoxometalate bridges the gap between homogeneous and heterogeneous water oxidation catalysis, leading to a breakthrough system. Density functional theory calculations show that the catalytic efficiency stems from the optimal distribution of the free energy cost to form reaction intermediates, in analogy with metal-oxide catalysts, thus providing a unifying picture for the two realms of water oxidation catalysis. These correlations among the mechanism of reaction, thermodynamic efficiency, and local structure of the active sites provide the key guidelines for the rational design of superior molecular catalysts and composite materials designed with a bottom-up approach and atomic control.

Water oxidation surface mechanisms replicated by a totally inorganic tetraruthenium–oxo molecular complex