Electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 is widely pursued as a means to produce chemical fuels from clean energy sources such as solar and wind. Most molecular electrocatalysts for the reduction of CO2 produce either formate or CO in a two electron process, as opposed to liquid fuels such as methanol. This talk will describe recent efforts from our group to design catalysts for reduction of CO2, CO, and formate under mild reaction conditions. Our strategy relies on the use of transition metal hydride donors, which can be generated directly from protons and electrons or from electrochemically generated H2. Thermodynamic hydricity is a critical factor in determining whether a metal hydride will react with a carbon-based substrate, and this parameter plays a central role in the described research.

Towards electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol: Adventures in hydricity

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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