Hydrogen production by molecular photocatalysis

PETR 27

Daniel G. Nocera, Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139
A reaction chemistry that permits H2 photogeneration will be presented. Significant fundamental issues confront H2 generation schemes. The reductive generation of H2 from HX or H2O splitting is a multielectron event that requires the oxidative half of the reaction to be completed in order to close a catalytic cycle. In driving any closed H2 photogeneration cycle, new approaches should be considered that diverge from the typical photochemical strategy of the last 30 years – namely one-electron transfer reactions of a photo-excited state. Some of these approaches will be presented.