A ruthenium water oxidation catalyst based on a carboxamide ligand

Herein is presented a single-site Ru complex bearing a carboxamide-based ligand that efficiently manages to carry out the four-electron oxidation of H2O. The incorporation of the negatively charged ligand framework significantly lowered the redox potentials of the Ru complex, allowing H2O oxidation to be driven by the mild oxidant [Ru(bpy)3]3+. This work highlights that the inclusion of amide moieties into metal complexes thus offers access to highly active H2O oxidation catalysts.