Photocatalytic water reduction with copper-based photosensitizers: a noble-metal-free system.

Of noble descent: a fully noble-metal-free system for the photocatalytic reduction of water at room temperature has been developed. This system consists of Cu(I) complexes as photosensitizers and [Fe(3)(CO)(12)] as the water-reduction catalyst. The novel Cu-based photosensitizers are relatively inexpensive, readily available from commercial sources, and stable to ambient conditions, thus making them an attractive alternative to the widely used noble-metal based systems.