Volume 6 Issue 9, September 2023

The electrochemical reduction of CO₂ in strong acids is difficult. Now a strategy utilizing immobilized cations significantly enhances system stability and efficiency, opening up avenues for optimized CO₂ conversion to C₂ products.

The electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to high-value multicarbon products is very desirable, but also fraught with immense complexity in process design. A twist in tuning product yields in this reaction could be based on water activity.

The valorization of methane into oxygenated products has long intrigued the catalysis community, however, progress in the field is disparate and practical implementation remains elusive. This Review discusses recent advances in the area using performance indicators that reveal the gaps between academic investigations and industrial methane utilization and highlight possibilities for further developments.

CO₂ electroreduction in acidic electrolytes avoids carbon loss but entails the issue of salt formation arising from the addition of metal cations, thereby limiting operational stability. Now copper is decorated with immobilized cationic ionomers, achieving stable CO₂ reduction towards multi-carbon products in metal cation-free acidic electrolytes.

Hydroxide exchange membrane fuel cells are promising devices for energy conversion. Now, a porous nitrogen-doped carbon-supported PtRu catalyst for the hydrogen oxidation reaction is presented, consisting of Pt single atoms and PtRu nanoparticles that work synergistically. The catalyst enables a fuel cell that exceeds the US Department of Energy 2022 performance target.

Strategies for the asymmetric synthesis of β-lactams are highly sought after. Now, a NiH-catalysed enantioselective intramolecular hydroamidation of alkenes affording β-lactam scaffolds is described, whereby the C–N bond is formed with unusual regioselectivity at the more proximal position.

Bismuth is a promising catalyst for formic acid production from CO₂ electroreduction, but its active site and phase under operation remain elusive. Now, a series of bismuth oxyhalide nanoplatelets has been evaluated using in situ techniques during the electrochemical CO₂ reduction reaction, revealing insights about the active bismuth phase.

Copper-based electrocatalysts promote the formation of high-value multicarbon products from CO₂, but the process competes with C₁ product formation. Now a strategy is presented to tune the activity of water by using water-in-salt electrolytes to increase the C₂₊/C₁ ratio.

While strain engineering via support modification is a powerful strategy to tune catalytic properties, it is complex to control for immobilized molecular complexes. Now the curvature of carbon nanotubes is leveraged to induce strain to metal phthalocyanine complexes and boost their electrocatalytic activity

The common static description of catalysts during turnover has often been challenged, but their specific nature under such conditions remains elusive. Now complex simulations reveal that ammonia decomposition on LiNH surfaces is catalysed by a highly dynamic, liquid-like interface that reversibly forms under operation.

Copper is an important catalyst for CO₂ electroreduction as it enables the formation of multi-carbon products. Now, using various in situ techniques, the authors show that low-coordinated Cu surface species form spontaneously near the onset of CO₂ electrocatalytic reduction.

Dicarbofunctionalization forging two distinct C(sp³)–C(sp³) bonds across unactivated alkenes is challenging. Now, an alkylative aminomethylation reaction of olefins by nickel electron-shuttle catalysis is reported circumventing common alkyl–metal side reactivities.