Molecular catalysts for water oxidation toward artificial photosynthesis

Artificial photosynthesis is anticipated as one of the promising clean energy- providing systems for the future. The development of an efficient catalyst for water oxidation to evolve O-2 is a key task to yield a breakthrough for construction of artificial photosynthetic devices. Recently, significant progress has been reported in the development of the molecular catalysts for water oxidation based on manganese, ruthenium and iridium. The molecular aspects of the catalysts reported in the last decade were reviewed to provide hints to design an efficient catalyst, as well as to gain clues to reveal the mechanism of O-2 evolution at photosynthetic oxygen evolving complex in nature.