Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-1460 Berkeley, CA, USA;2. Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, 94720-1460 Berkeley, CA, USA Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 94720-1460 Berkeley, CA, USA These authors contributed equally to this work. |
Abstract: | We present a supramolecular approach to catalyzing photochemical CO2 reduction through second-sphere porosity and charge effects. An iron porphyrin box ( PB ) bearing 24 cationic groups, FePB-2(P) , was made via post-synthetic modification of an alkyne-functionalized supramolecular synthon. FePB-2(P) promotes the photochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) with 97 % selectivity for CO product, achieving turnover numbers (TON) exceeding 7000 and initial turnover frequencies (TOFmax) reaching 1400 min−1. The cooperativity between porosity and charge results in a 41-fold increase in activity relative to the parent Fe tetraphenylporphyrin ( FeTPP ) catalyst, which is far greater than analogs that augment catalysis through porosity ( FePB-3(N ), 4-fold increase) or charge (Fe p-tetramethylanilinium porphyrin ( Fe-p-TMA ), 6-fold increase) alone. This work establishes that synergistic pendants in the secondary coordination sphere can be leveraged as a design element to augment catalysis at primary active sites within confined spaces. |