Aqueous Platinum(II)-Cage-Based Light-Harvesting System for Photocatalytic Cross-Coupling Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Photosynthesis is a process wherein the chromophores in plants and bacteria absorb light and convert it into chemical energy. To mimic this process, an emissive poly(ethylene glycol)-decorated tetragonal prismatic platinum(II) cage was prepared and used as the donor molecule to construct a light-harvesting system in water. Eosin Y was chosen as the acceptor because of its good spectral overlap with that of the metallacage, which is essential for the preparation of light-harvesting systems. Such a combination showed enhanced catalytic activity in catalyzing the cross-coupling hydrogen evolution reaction, as compared with eosin Y alone. This study offers a pathway for using the output energy from the light-harvesting system to mimic the whole photosynthetic process.