Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction by Trigonal-Bipyramidal Cobalt(II) Polypyridyl Complexes: The Nature of Cobalt(I) and Cobalt(0) Complexes upon Their Reactions with CO2, CO, or Proton

The cobalt complexes CoIIL1(PF6)2 (1; L1 = 2,6-bis[2-(2,2′-bipyridin-6′-yl)ethyl]pyridine) and CoIIL2(PF6)2 (2; L2 = 2,6-bis[2-(4-methoxy-2,2′-bipyridin-6′-yl)ethyl]pyridine) were synthesized and used for photocatalytic CO2 reduction in acetonitrile. X-ray structures of complexes 1 and 2 reveal distorted trigonal-bipyramidal geometries with all nitrogen atoms of the ligand coordinated to the Co(II) center, in contrast to the common six-coordinate cobalt complexes with pentadentate polypyridine ligands, where a monodentate solvent completes the coordination sphere. Under electrochemical conditions, the catalytic current for CO2 reduction was observed near the Co(I/0) redox couple for both complexes 1 and 2 at E1/2 = −1.77 and −1.85 V versus Ag/AgNO3 (or −1.86 and −1.94 V vs Fc+/0), respectively. Under photochemical conditions with 2 as the catalyst, [Ru(bpy)3]2+ as a photosensitizer, tri-p-tolylamine (TTA) as a reversible quencher, and triethylamine (TEA) as a sacrificial electron donor, CO and H2 were pro...