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Mechanism of photocatalytic reduction of CO2 by Re(bpy)(CO)3Cl from differences in carbon isotope discrimination

Journal Article · · ACS Catalysis
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Connecticut, Storrs, CT (United States)
  2. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
The rhenium complex Re(bpy)(CO)3Cl (1, bpy = 2,2'-bipyridine) catalyzes CO2 reduction to CO in mixtures containing triethanolamine (TEOA) as a sacrificial reductant. The mechanism of this reaction under photocatalytic conditions remains to be fully characterized. Here, we report the competitive carbon kinetic isotope effects (13C KIEs) on photocatalytic CO2 reduction by 1 and analyze the results of experimental measurements by comparing with computed KIEs via density functional theory (DFT) calculations as a means of formulating a chemical mechanism and illustrating the utility of this approach. The 13C KIEs, k(12C)/k(13C), in acetonitrile (ACN) and dimethylformamide (DMF) were determined to be 1.0718 ± 0.0036 and 1.0685 ± 0.0075, respectively. When [Ru(bpy)3]Cl2 is added to the reaction mixture in acetonitrile as a photosensitizer, the reduction of CO2 exhibited a 13C KIE = 1.0703 ± 0.0043. These values are consistent with the calculated isotope effect of CO2 binding to the one-electron reduced [ReI(bpy•)(CO)3] species. The findings reported here provide strong evidence that the reactions in the two different solvents have the same first irreversible step and proceed with similar reactive intermediates upon reduction. Theoretically, we found that the major contribution for the large 13C isotope effects comes from a dominant zero-point energy (ZPE) term. Lastly, these results lay the groundwork for combined experimental and theoretical approaches for analysis of competitive isotope effects toward understanding CO2 reduction catalyzed by other complexes.
Research Organization:
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES) (SC-22)
OSTI ID:
1331074
Report Number(s):
BNL--113175-2016-JA; KC0304030
Journal Information:
ACS Catalysis, Journal Name: ACS Catalysis Journal Issue: 8 Vol. 6; ISSN 2155-5435
Publisher:
American Chemical SocietyCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (9)

Robust Binding of Disulfide-Substituted Rhenium Bipyridyl Complexes for CO2 Reduction on Gold Electrodes journal February 2020
Photocatalysis: Basic Principles, Diverse Forms of Implementations and Emerging Scientific Opportunities journal August 2017
Addition of Re-Bonded Nucleophilic Ligands to Activated Alkynes: A Theoretical Rationalization: Addition of Re-Bonded Nucleophilic Ligands to Activated Alkynes: A Theoretical Rationalization journal January 2020
Immobilizing Re(CO) 3 Br(dcbpy) Complex on CsPbBr 3 Nanocrystal for Boosted Charge Separation and Photocatalytic CO 2 Reduction journal September 2019
[Ru II (tpy)(bpy)Cl] + -Catalyzed reduction of carbon dioxide. Mechanistic insights by carbon-13 kinetic isotope effects journal January 2018
Mechanisms of catalytic reduction of CO 2 with heme and nonheme metal complexes journal January 2018
A highly active, robust photocatalyst heterogenized in discrete cages of metal–organic polyhedra for CO 2 reduction journal January 2020
A stable covalent organic framework for photocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction journal January 2020
An Unexpected Iron (II)-Based Homogeneous Catalytic System for Highly Efficient CO2-to-CO Conversion under Visible-Light Irradiation journal May 2019

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