Grace Rout

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an abundant and relevant precursor for various industrially useful feedstocks. One such example is carbon monoxide (CO), which is utilized in the Fischer-Tropsch process to synthesize fuels, lubricants, and petrochemicals. The transformation of CO2 into CO is a challenging reaction due to a) the stability of CO2 requiring high energy inputs to break its bonds and b) lack of catalyst specificity in current systems, resulting in more extreme conditions required for the reaction to occur. Nature performs the same reaction at ambient conditions through the use of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH) enzymes. While the structure of the active site of CODH has been elucidated, the particular mechanisms through which the reaction proceeds remain uncertain. My work in the Shoshani group involves the synthesis of diiron catalysts and heterobimetallic nickel/iron catalysts inspired by the CODH enzyme and characterization of them through reactivity studies and investigation of binding modes through all stages of the reaction. The use of bioinspired complexes provides system simplification prior to examination, allowing for a wider range of characterization techniques to be used.