Electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide to methanol. Part 2. Effects of metal complex and primary alcohol

Abstract

The conversion of CO2 into methanol by Everitt's salt, K2FeII[FeII(CN)6], has been studied in the presence of various metal complexes and primary alcohols. The activation energies for the methanol formation were 5.8–10.6 kcal mol–1, approximately twice those for the reduction of CO. The i.r. spectra of the metal complexes indicated that the reduction of CO2 takes place via a formate-type intermediate. The mechanism is considered to be very similar to that for reduction of CO, but the reduction of CO2 appears to be more dominated by its insertion into a M(central metal)–OR(primary alcohol) bond than is that of CO.