Water oxidation catalyzed by molecular di- and nonanuclear Fe complexes: importance of a proper ligand framework

The synthesis of two molecular iron complexes, a dinuclear iron(III,III) complex and a nonanuclear iron complex, based on the di-nucleating ligand 2,2'-(2-hydroxy-5-methyl-1,3-phenylene)bis(1H-benzo[d]imidazole-4-carboxylic acid) is described. The two iron complexes were found to drive the oxidation of water by the one-electron oxidant [Ru(bpy)(3)](3+).