Photocatalytic degradation of bromothymol blue with Ruthenium(II) bipyridyl complex in aqueous basic solution

Ru(II) bipyridyl photocatalyst with the formula, [Ru(bpy)2(o-CH3-bzpypz)](PF6)2] (Ru01) and [Ru(bpy)2(o-Cl-bzpypz)](PF6)2] (Ru02), where bpy = 2,2’-bipyridyl, o-CH3-bzpypz = (3-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)(o-tolyl)methanone and o-Cl-bzpypz = (2-chlorophenyl)(3-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methanone, has been successfully synthesized and characterized on the basis of C, H, N elemental analysis, IR, UV-Vis and NMR spectroscopy. Both Ru(II) complexes showed Infrared stretching frequencies at 1742-1736 cm−1 v(C=O), 1605 cm−1 v(C=N) and 842-837 cm−1 v(PF). Full geometry optimization of the complex structures were carried out using DFT method with B3LYP exchange-correlation functional and 6-31G (d,p) basis-set for H, C, N, O and Cl; and LAN2LDZ basis set as effective core potential for the ruthenium centre. The highest-occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels of Ru01 and Ru02 are −5.63 and −5.55 eV, respectively. The photocatalytic properties of the Ru(II) complexes were evaluated by studying the degradation of aqueous bromothymol blue (BTB) under light illumination. The mechanisms are presented and discussed to highlight the role of the ruthenium complex in the degradation process.