Ligand-Controlled Product Selectivity in Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction Using Manganese Bipyridine Catalysts.

Electrocatalysis is a promising tool for utilizing carbon dioxide as a feedstock in the chemical industry. However, controlling the selectivity for different CO reduction products remains a major challenge. We report a series of manganese carbonyl complexes with elaborated bipyridine or phenanthroline ligands that can reduce CO to either formic acid, if the ligand structure contains strategically positioned tertiary amines, or CO, if the amine groups are absent in the ligand or are placed far from the metal center.