C-C Coupling (IMAGE)
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For decades, researchers have known that a metabolic pathway in some bacteria allows them to digest electrons and CO2 to produce acetate, a reaction driven by the electrons. The pathway breaks CO2 molecules down into two different or “asymmetric” chemical groups: a carbonyl group (CO) or a methyl group (CH3). Enzymes in this reaction pathway enable the carbons in CO and CH3 to bond or “couple,” which then triggers another catalytic reaction that produces acetate as the final product. Now, Berkeley Lab scientists have demonstrated a new technique, modeled after this bacterial metabolic pathway, to convert carbon dioxide into solar fuels through artificial photosynthesis.
Credit
Chubai Chen/Berkeley Lab; courtesy of Nature Catalysis
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