High-Rate Hydrogen Generation by Direct Sunlight Irradiation with a Triruthenium Complex

Herein we report a biomimetic triruthenium catalyst that, when under direct sunlight irradiation, facilitates high-rate H-2 production from formic acid (FA) dehydrogenation. The system consists of 2 mu mol of catalyst and 6 mu mol of tri-o-tolylphosphine in 1 mL of dimethylformamide (DMF) and 4 mL of FA/triethylamine (TEA; 5:2). With 0.4 mM catalyst loaded, a high turnover frequency of 1.15 X 10(6) h(-1) was detected when under direct sunlight irradiation. In an experiment with 0.2 mM catalyst loaded, more than 140 L of H-2 (280 L of H-2 + CO2) was produced, and a turnover number of approximately 2.78 X 10(6) was obtained within 5 h without decline in H-2 generation activity, making it suitable for high-rate H-2 production.