Bio-inspired Molecular Catalysts for small molecule activation

Molecular catalysts allow for a high tunability of the reaction active sites. We design and synthetize new bio-inspired molecular catalysts for CO2, NOx and N2 reduction inspired by enzymatic active sites structures and functions. In that context, we demonstrated that a heterobimetallic Mo-Cu complex presenting a close structural analogy with active site of the CODH enzyme can act as a selective precatalyst for the reduction of CO2 to formate. Conversely, in functional analogy to the valence tautomerism promoted by molybdopterin ligands in CODH and FDH enzymes, we exploited the ability of pyridinethiolate ligands to stabilize both low and high oxidation states of metal centers to design Co-based catalysts promoting CO2 reduction to formate with very low overpotentials. We are further exploring the design of new electrocatalysts inspired by the active sites of CODH, Nitrogenase and nitrate/nitrite reductase enzymes.