Multistep catalytic abiotic CO<sub>2</sub> conversion to sugars through C<sub>1</sub> intermediates.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40857310.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1073/pnas.2514826122 and PMC identifier 12415257.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>) to multicarbon (C<sub>n</sub>) upgrading for commodity chemicals, fuel production, or artificial food synthesis using renewable energy input is a golden target for researchers in sustainable carbon emission reduction. Here, we explore and analyze a flexible modular roadmap for the task, utilizing sequential electro-, photo-, and organocatalysis to develop a strategy for CO<sub>2</sub> conversion using the key and elusive formaldehyde precursor of interest for sugar generation. We study the electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction to methanol in a flow cell and its discontinuous photooxidation to formaldehyde (PMOR) with excellent selectivity. Utilizing a highly active <i>N-</i>heterocyclic carbene catalyst enables tunable generation of C<sub>4</sub>-C<sub>6</sub> aldoses without undesirable byproducts, with carbon conversion yield reaching 60 to 80% for desired pentose, tetrose, and triose product mixtures and over 20% for hexose. This approach presents a roadmap for CO<sub>2</sub> valorization, aiming to bridge carbon waste streams with sustainable sugar synthesis and opening broad avenues for green chemical production.