Metallocorroles as photocatalysts for driving endergonic reactions, exemplified by bromide to bromine conversion.

Photochemical oxidation of halide anions by visible light has been suggested for solar energy conversion processes. Post-transition metallocorroles are now disclosed as very efficient catalysts for the photoinduced transformation of bromide to bromine. The advantages of these catalysts are that they are very stable under the reaction conditions and that the energy levels of the oxidizing HOMO and the reducing LUMO are easily tuned. Insights into the mechanism of action obtained in this work is predicted to be very useful for the design of other systems that rely on photocatalysis for driving endergonic reactions.