Wac-Re(bpy) (CO),Cl] (bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) is an efficient homogeneous catalyst for the selective and sustained photochemical or electrochemical reduction of CO, to CO. A quantum yield of 14% and a faradic efficiency of 98 % were measured in the presence of excess C1-ions.The photochemical process took place under visible-light irradiation and consumed a tertiary amine as electron donor. A formato-rhenium complex was isolated in the absence ofexcess CI-ions. Substitution by CI-ion generated free formate, but no CO was detected. Luminescence measurements showed that the tertiary amine quenches the metal-to-ligand charge-transfer excited state of the rhenium complex via a reductive mechanism, with a rate constant of 3.4 x lo7M-'S-'. The 19e-complex [Re(bpy) (CO),X]-produced either photochemically or electrochemically appears to be the active precursor in the CO-generation process. Detailed spectroscopic studies on I3C-enriched carbonyl-rhenium and formato-rhenium complexes derived from I3C-enriched C 0 2 were performed in order to confirm the origin of the products and to study the exchange of the ligands. A mechanism for the present C 0 2 photoreduction process is presented; it involves separate pathways for CO and formate generation, in which the [Re(bpy) (CO),X] complex plays the role of boih rhephotoactivr and fhe catalytic center.