Mechanistic insights on Co-qpy mediated CO2 reduction to CO

Artificial photosynthesis is one of the most promising alternatives to the combustion fossil fuels. In our group, we have prepared a series of highly active quartpyridine-based cobalt catalyst with the objective of fully understanding the mechanism of the CO2 reduction to CO. Within this context, Kβ XES, HERFD, VtC XES techniques available at the ID26 are excellent techniques to characterize the reaction intermediates of the [CoII(qpyMe2)(MeCN)2]2+. Herein, we aim to investigate the electronic configuration of the CoII-OPh intermediates (OPh is phenolate) at different oxidation states, which have been identified by electrochemical techniques as the real active species under catalytic conditions. The fully understanding of the highly reactive intermediate will shed light one the factors that governs the catalytic performance with qpy-based systems, helping for the future design of CO2 reduction catalysts.