Multistep catalytic abiotic CO <sub>2</sub> conversion to sugars through C <sub>1</sub> intermediates
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.
Authors
- Peidong Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4799-1684)
- Yao Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0321-3792)
- Ji-Hoon Choi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7311-3087)
- Lihini Jayasinghe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8450-0728)
- Julian Feijóo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8130-4978)
- Geonhui Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9264-7420)
- Gea‐Jae Joo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8064-7880)
- Maria Fonseca Guzman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8931-1224)
- Arifin Luthfi Maulana (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5928-586X)
- Alexander M. Oddo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5458-8650)
- Nathan E. Soland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0726-2690)
- Wei-Shan Huynh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2948-0162)
- Yu Shan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8165-8407)
- Jie Luo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-5256-644X)
- Cheng Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6649-7812)
- Tianle Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7003-0264)
Institutions
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- Kavli Energy NanoScience Institute (US)
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2025-08-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2514826122
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- CO2 Reduction Techniques and Catalysts
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.73
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- Office of Science
- Division of Materials Research
- Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems
- Basic Energy Sciences
- Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory