Small Organic Molecular Electrocatalysts for Fuels Production

In recent years, heterocyclic organic compounds have been explored as molecular electrocatalysts in relevant reactions for energy conversion and storage. Merging mimetics of biological systems that perform hydride transfer with rational synthetic chemical design has opened many opportunities for organic molecules to be tuned at the atomic level conferring them interesting reactivities. These molecular electrocatalysts represent an alternative to traditional metallic materials and metal complexes employed for water oxidation, hydrogen production, and carbon dioxide reduction. This minireview describes recent reports concerning design, catalytic activity and the mechanism of synthetic molecular electrocatalysts towards solar fuels production.

Automated summary

In recent years, the design, catalytic activity, and mechanism of synthetic molecular electrocatalysts for solar fuel production have attracted significant attention. Heterocyclic organic compounds have the potential to be tuned at the atomic level, allowing them to mimic the hydride transfer properties of biological systems.