A nickel (II) PY5 complex as an electrocatalyst for water oxidation

A Ni-PY5 [PY5 = 2,6-bis(1,1-bis(2-pyridyl)ethyl)pyridine)] complex has been found to act as an electrocatalyst for oxidizing water to dioxygen in aqueous phosphate buffer solutions. The rate of water oxidation catalyzed by the Ni-PY5 is remarkably enhanced by the proton acceptor base HPO42−, with rate constant of 1820 M−1 s−1. Controlled potential bulk electrolysis with Ni-PY5 at pH 10.8 under an applied potential of 1.5 V vs. normal hydrogen electrode (NHE) resulted in dioxygen formation with a high faradaic efficiency over 90%. A detailed mechanistic study identifies the water nucleophilic attack pathway for water oxidation catalysis.