Singlet Oxygen Generation via an Electrochemical Reduction Method Assisted by a Ruthenium(II) Complex

In this work, singlet oxygen (¹O₂) is unprecedently recorded in the electrochemical reduction of tris(2,2′-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) [Ru(bpy)₃²⁺] in an acetonitrile solution with dissolved oxygen, which is well characterized by the specific probe of Singlet Oxygen Sensor Greens and the technique of electron-spin resonance in this work. Importantly, this new electrochemical method to produce ¹O₂ shows higher efficiency than the conventional photodriven method. Furthermore, taken together with the inherent advantages of electrochemical techniques compared with the photochemical/chemical-driven method, this electrochemical method would inevitably show great promise in reactive-oxygen-species-related studies in the future.