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CATALYTIC MATERIALS

Two are better than one

Nature Chemistry volume 11, pages 200–201 (2019)Cite this article

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Finely tuned interactions in the second coordination sphere of enzymes or homogeneous catalysts can be essential for their function. Now, this concept has been applied to the surface of a catalytic material, utilizing pairs of Cu atoms for the selective electrochemical fixation of CO2.

From DNA repair and natural photosynthesis to biological nitrogen fixation, redox-active metalloenzymes enjoy high reactivity thanks to the delicate local environments around their active sites. When electron transfer takes place in such systems, the energetics of both the transition and final states can be stabilized with the transfer of a charged species, usually a proton, through interactions in the second coordination sphere1. Such a synergistic proton-coupled electron transfer leads to low activation energy for catalysis as well as long-range charge transfer in enzymes1. Inspired by nature, chemists seek to develop molecular catalysts with ingenious ligand design to similarly fine-tune the interactions occurring in the second coordination environment. Using characterization techniques such as crystallography, chemists have been able to determine structures and fundamental mechanistic details of enzymes and model catalysts that have enabled them to design kinetically efficient catalysts with high turnover frequencies2,3.

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Fig. 1: Pairs of Cu0–Cux+ atoms proposed as the active sites of electrochemical CO2 reduction on Pd10Te3 nanowires.

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  1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Benjamin S. Natinsky & Chong Liu

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  1. Benjamin S. Natinsky
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  2. Chong Liu
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Correspondence to Chong Liu.

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Natinsky, B.S., Liu, C. Two are better than one. Nature Chem 11, 200–201 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41557-019-0221-1

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