The catalytic activity of [Ru(tpy)(bpy)OH2]2+ (tpy = 2,2′:6′,2′′-terpyridine and bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine) increased by a 4′-substituted ethoxy group on the tpy ligand by more than one order of magnitude to give 1.1 × 10−1s−1 of catalyst turnover frequency, which is comparable with the hitherto-reported champion data.
