Abstract
Reduction of CO2 using water as an electron donor could be deemed one of the most important reactions in artificial photosynthesis. In the current study, electrochemical properties of a water-soluble rhenium(I) tricarbonyl complex with hydroxymethyl groups ([Re(CH2OH)–OH2]+) and its electrocatalysis for CO2 reduction were investigated in aqueous solutions. In comparison with general rhenium(I) carbonyl complexes, [Re(CH2OH)–OH2]+ shows high solubility in water even in the presence of both CO2 and OH–. In an aqueous solution, [Re(CH2OH)–OH2]+ exhibited a catalytic current due to CO2 reduction in a cyclic voltammogram at a positive potential of about 400 mV more than that in a DMF solution. It is suggested that two molecules of a one-electron-reduced Re complex participated in reducing one molecule of CO2 in the aqueous solution. Electrolysis using [Re(CH2OH)–OH2]+ at −1.1 V vs NHE in a CO2-saturated aqueous solution afforded CO and HCOOH with 95 and 4% selectivity, respectively, at pH 6.9; thermodynamicall...
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