TRANSITION METAL COMPLEXES AS SOLAR
PHOTOCATALYSTS IN THE ENVIRONMENT: A
SHORT REVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENT
ZOFIA STASICKA
Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University, Ingardena 3, Kraków, PolandI. Introduction 292
II. Environmental Matter Under Sunlight Impact 293
III. Effect of Complexation and Photochemistry on Composition of
Individual Compartments and Transport Between Them 296
A. Role of Natural Chelating Ligands 296
B. Involvement of Anthropogenic Agents 299
IV. Transition Metal Photochemistry in Conversion of
Some Atmospheric Gases 299
A. Volatile Organic Componds 300
B. Nitrogen Oxides 302
V. Photooxidation of Organic Pollutants by Transition Metal
Complexes in Hydrosphere and Soils 316
A. Iron Complexes 316
B. Copper Complexes 322
C. Chromium Compounds 325
D. Photocatalytic Cycles 330
VI. Concluding Remarks 333
Acknowledgments 334
References 334
ABSTRACTThe role of photocatalysis by transition metal complexes in the
environment is reviewed, and its influence on composition of the
environmental compartments, transport between them, and activa-
tion of the environmental self-cleaning behavior is characterized.
In description of atmospheric processes, the attention is paid to
coordination compounds as photocatalysts of the transfer and redox
reactions of nitrogen oxides. In the case of hydrosphere and soils,
various mechanisms of organic pollutant photodegradations are
presented in which the iron, copper, and chromium complexes play
291INORGANIC PHOTOCHEMISTRY #2011 Elsevier Inc.
VOLUME 63 ISSN 0898-8838 / DOI:10.1016/B978-0-12-385904-4.00004-4 All rights reserved