We analyze the stability of the non-heme water oxidation catalyst (WOC), Fe(bpmcn)Cl-2, toward oxygen and illumination under nonaqueous and acidic conditions. Fe(bpmcn)Cl-2 has been previously used as a C-H activation catalyst, a homogeneous WOC, and as a cocatalyst anchored to WO3 for photoelectrochemical water oxidation. This paper reports that the ligand dissociates at pH 1 with a rate constant k = 19.8(2) x 10(-3) min(-1), resulting in loss of catalytic activity. The combination of UV vis experiments, H-1 NMR spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry confirm free bpmcn and Fe2+ present in solution under acidic conditions. Even under nonaqueous conditions, both oxygen and illumination together show slow oxidation of iron over the few hours, course of a consistent with forming an Fe3+-O-2(-), intermediate as corroborated by resonance-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, with a rate constant of k = 3.03(8) x 10(-3) min(-1). This finding has implications in both the merits of non-heme iron complexes as WOCs as well as cocatalysts in photoelectrochemical schemes: the decomposition mechanisms may include both anchoring group hydrolysis and instability under illumination.