SENSITIZED PHOTOREDUCTION OF CO(EDTA)- IN AERATED AQUEOUS SOLUTION. ITS PHOTO-ELECTROCHEMICAL AND PHOTOBIOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS

Abstract— The reduction of Co(edta)^- in aerated aqueous solution containing 1-hydroxy-5-oxo-5H-pyrido[3,2a]phenoxazine-3-calboxylic acid (HPPC) as sensitizer and ethylenediaminetetraacetate ion(EDTA) as electron donor was studied. Semireduced HPPC, formed in a reaction between triplet HPPC and EDTA, was shown to reduce Co(edta)^- to Co(edta)^2-. The ratio of the rate constant for oxidation of semireduced HPPC by oxygen to that by Co(edta)^- was determined to be 0.45± 0.01 from competition reaction kinetics. A (concentration)half-cell (oxidation-reduction electrode) based on the photoreduction of Co(edta)^- was found to give an electrode potential decrease of 100 mV. Co(edta)^- was also found to be reduced during illumination in aerated suspension of chloroplasts. The rate of oxygen evolution for the Co(edta)^- -chloroplast system was nearly the same as that for the Fe(CN)₆^3- -chloroplast system both in the absence and presence of ammonium ions.