Multistep catalytic abiotic CO ₂ conversion to sugars through C ₁ intermediates

Abstract

Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to multicarbon (C n ) 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 2 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 N- heterocyclic carbene catalyst enables tunable generation of C 4 –C 6 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 2 valorization, aiming to bridge carbon waste streams with sustainable sugar synthesis and opening broad avenues for green chemical production.