Unusual Stability of a Bacteriochlorin Electrocatalyst under Reductive Conditions. A Case Study on CO 2 Conversion to CO
Abstract
Photosynthetic CO 2 fixation is mediated by the enzyme RuBisCo, which employs a nonredox-active metal (Mg 2+) to bind CO 2 adjacent to an organic ligand that provides reducing equivalents for CO 2 fixation. Attempts to use porphyrins as ligands in reductive catalysis have typically encountered severe stability issues owing to ligand reduction. Here, a synthetic zinc–bacteriochlorin is reported as an effective and robust electrocatalyst for CO 2 reduction to CO with an overpotential of 330 mV, without undergoing porphyrin-like ligand degradation (or demetalation) even after prolonged bulk electrolysis. The reaction has a CO Faradaic efficiency of 92% and sustains a total current density of 2.3 mA/cm 2 at -1.9 V vs Ag/AgCl. DFT calculations highlight the molecular origin of the observed stability and provide insights into catalytic steps. Here, this bioinspired study opens avenues for the application of bacteriochlorin compounds for reductive electrocatalysis with extended life beyond that seen with porphyrin counterparts.
- Authors:
-
- Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States). Dept. of Chemistry; Yale Univ., West Haven, CT (United States). Energy Sciences Inst.
- North Carolina State Univ., Raleigh, NC (United States). Dept. of Chemistry
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC); Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO (United States); Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1543706
- Grant/Contract Number:
- FG02-05ER15661; FG02-07ER15909
- Resource Type:
- Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- ACS Catalysis
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 8; Journal Issue: 11; Journal ID: ISSN 2155-5435
- Publisher:
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY; chemistry; bacteriochlorin; Co2 conversion; electrocatalysis; hydrogenation; porphyrin
Citation Formats
Jiang, Jianbing, Matula, Adam J., Swierk, John R., Romano, Neyen, Wu, Yueshen, Batista, Victor S., Crabtree, Robert H., Lindsey, Jonathan S., Wang, Hailiang, and Brudvig, Gary W. Unusual Stability of a Bacteriochlorin Electrocatalyst under Reductive Conditions. A Case Study on CO2 Conversion to CO. United States: N. p., 2018.
Web. doi:10.1021/acscatal.8b02991.
Jiang, Jianbing, Matula, Adam J., Swierk, John R., Romano, Neyen, Wu, Yueshen, Batista, Victor S., Crabtree, Robert H., Lindsey, Jonathan S., Wang, Hailiang, & Brudvig, Gary W. Unusual Stability of a Bacteriochlorin Electrocatalyst under Reductive Conditions. A Case Study on CO2 Conversion to CO. United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.8b02991
Jiang, Jianbing, Matula, Adam J., Swierk, John R., Romano, Neyen, Wu, Yueshen, Batista, Victor S., Crabtree, Robert H., Lindsey, Jonathan S., Wang, Hailiang, and Brudvig, Gary W. Thu .
"Unusual Stability of a Bacteriochlorin Electrocatalyst under Reductive Conditions. A Case Study on CO2 Conversion to CO". United States. https://doi.org/10.1021/acscatal.8b02991. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1543706.
@article{osti_1543706,
title = {Unusual Stability of a Bacteriochlorin Electrocatalyst under Reductive Conditions. A Case Study on CO2 Conversion to CO},
author = {Jiang, Jianbing and Matula, Adam J. and Swierk, John R. and Romano, Neyen and Wu, Yueshen and Batista, Victor S. and Crabtree, Robert H. and Lindsey, Jonathan S. and Wang, Hailiang and Brudvig, Gary W.},
abstractNote = {Photosynthetic CO2 fixation is mediated by the enzyme RuBisCo, which employs a nonredox-active metal (Mg2+) to bind CO2 adjacent to an organic ligand that provides reducing equivalents for CO2 fixation. Attempts to use porphyrins as ligands in reductive catalysis have typically encountered severe stability issues owing to ligand reduction. Here, a synthetic zinc–bacteriochlorin is reported as an effective and robust electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction to CO with an overpotential of 330 mV, without undergoing porphyrin-like ligand degradation (or demetalation) even after prolonged bulk electrolysis. The reaction has a CO Faradaic efficiency of 92% and sustains a total current density of 2.3 mA/cm2 at -1.9 V vs Ag/AgCl. DFT calculations highlight the molecular origin of the observed stability and provide insights into catalytic steps. Here, this bioinspired study opens avenues for the application of bacteriochlorin compounds for reductive electrocatalysis with extended life beyond that seen with porphyrin counterparts.},
doi = {10.1021/acscatal.8b02991},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1543706},
journal = {ACS Catalysis},
issn = {2155-5435},
number = 11,
volume = 8,
place = {United States},
year = {2018},
month = {9}
}
Web of Science
Figures / Tables:

Works referencing / citing this record:
A bacteriochlorin-diketopyrrolopyrrole triad as a donor for solution-processed bulk heterojunction organic solar cells
journal, January 2019
- Ponsot, Flavien; Bucher, Léo; Desbois, Nicolas
- Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Vol. 7, Issue 31
A bacteriochlorin-diketopyrrolopyrrole triad as a donor for solution-processed bulk heterojunction organic solar cells
journal, January 2019
- Ponsot, Flavien; Bucher, Léo; Desbois, Nicolas
- Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Vol. 7, Issue 31
A new polypyridyl‐based Ru (II) complex as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for CO 2 reduction
journal, January 2020
- Daryanavard, Marzieh; Masoumpour, Marziyeh Sadat
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Heterogeneous molecular catalysts for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction
journal, May 2019
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- Nano Research, Vol. 12, Issue 9
Artificial photosynthesis: opportunities and challenges of molecular catalysts
journal, January 2019
- Zhang, Biaobiao; Sun, Licheng
- Chemical Society Reviews, Vol. 48, Issue 7
Figures / Tables found in this record: