Efficient Electrochemical Reduction of CO to Formate in Methanol Solutions by Mn-Functionalized Electrodes in the Presence of Amines.

Carbon cloth electrode modified by covalently attaching a manganese organometallic catalyst is used as cathode for the electrochemical reduction of CO in methanol solutions. Six different industrial amines are employed as co-catalyst in millimolar concentrations to deliver a series of new reactive system. While such absorbents were so far believed to provide a CO reservoir and act as sacrificial proton source, we herein demonstrate that this role can be played by methanol, and that the adduct formed between CO and the amine can act as an effector or inhibitor toward the catalyst, thereby enhancing or reducing the production of formate.