The development of new strategies for the light-driven conversion of carbon dioxide into fuels lies at the heart of the progress of solar fuels. Molecular catalysts are promising because their activity can be tuned using ligand design strategies, and because detailed mechanistic studies can be used to guide catalyst optimization. In this contribution, our recent advances in the development of molecular ruthenium catalysts for electrochemical reduction of CO2 will be presented. Molecular complexes of 2,2':6',2''-terpyridine paired with a bidentate ligand containing mixed pyridine-N-heterocyclic carbene donors are explored. The influence of the bite angle of the bidentate ligand, the identity of the ligand in the precatalyst that occupies the eventual CO2 binding site, and the role of the ligand isomerization pathways will all be discussed.

Mechanistic studies on a family of carbene-supported ruthenium complexes for electrochemical CO2 reduction

255th National Meeting (2018)

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