H 2 Generation from a homogeneous photocatalytic system containing noble‐metal‐free Co(II) complex under the irradiation of visible light

SUMMARY A noble‐metal‐free molecular catalyst, [Co(dmbp) 3 ]Cl 2 (dmbp = 4,4 ’ ‐dimethyl‐2,2 ’ ‐bipyridyl) was prepared for photocatalytic H 2 generation. A three‐component photocatalytic system was constructed by combination of [Co(dmbp) 3 ]Cl 2 as catalyst, Eosin Y as photosensitizer and triethylamine as sacrificial electron donor to give an efficient H 2 generation system under visible‐light irradiation (λ > 420 nm). The maximum H 2 yield was up to 249.2 turnover number (vs. catalyst) over 2 h irradiation under the conditions with catalyst of 4.0 × 10 −4  M, 10% TEA (v/v), EY 2− of 4.0  ×  10 −4  M and pH 10 in MeCN/H 2 O (1 : 1,v/v). Furthermore, the dynamics behaviors of the photolysis system were also briefly discussed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.