Tris -methyl viologen system

Later, an improved system for C02 photofixation was reported by the same authors.164 The new system consisted of 6.5 x 1(T5 M tris(2,2 -bipyridine)ruthenium(II), Ru(bpy)3, as the photosensitive electron donor, methyl viologen (MV2+, 20 mM) as the electron acceptor, and triethanolamine (TEOA, 0.6 M) as a sacrificial electron donor in a C02-saturated aqueous solution (Fig. 18). Under irradiation with a 300-W high-pressure Hg lamp with a CuS04 chemical filter (A > 320 nm), formic acid, which was detected by isotachophoresis, was produced in quantum yields of ca. 0.01%. Recently, however, Kase et al.165 have repeated this experiment using a 13C02 tracer and have claimed that the formic acid obtained was produced not by C02 reduction but rather by oxidative cleavage of TEOA. 

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