The controlled reduction of CO2 and CO to C≥2 products is critical for the synthesis of clean fuels, but these multi-electron reactions are challenging to control and mechanistically poorly understood. A series of Mo complexes, bearing a terphenyl diphosphine ligand scaffold, shed light on important mechanistic aspects of CO2 reduction, CO deoxygenation, and CO reductive catenation. A rare example of a terminal Mo carbide complex acts as a precursor to downstream C–C coupling chemistries. Low temperature synthesis and spectroscopy, kinetics, and isotopic labeling provide key insights into design elements that promote advantageous reactivity, while mapping out the elementary steps by which C1 oxygenates are reduced and coupled at a single metal site.

Fundamental lessons in carbon fixation chemistry: Molybdenum-mediated reduction of C1 oxygenates

2019 Fall National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.