PHOTOSENSITIZATION AND PHOTOCATALYSIS IN BIOINORGANIC, BIO-ORGANOMETALLIC AND BIOMIMETIC SYSTEMS

Inorganic photochemistry has experienced an enormous progress within the past decades. Many branches of current frontier science including sustainable chemistry, solar fuel production, or modern therapeutic strategies critically depend on light-responsive metal complexes. More recently, the various aspects of bioinorganic and bioorganometallic photochemistry have been systematically explored. In the present review, an attempt is made to provide some unifying concepts and rational design guidelines for the development of novel biomimetic and bioinspired systems controlled and driven by photons. Spectral sensitization of such photoprocesses remains a central challenge for utilizing sunlight as the energy source for enzyme mimetics, artificial photosynthesis, and chemical photocatalysis. Several applications of metal-based drugs in molecular photomedicine also require light sensitivity in clearly defined spectral regions. Therefore, a brief overview on bioinorganic chromophores and their synthetic counterparts is provided. We also focus on the integration of abundant natural resources and the search for novel photocatalysts based on nonprecious metals and environmentally benign materials.