Although not the only greenhouse gas, CO₂ is the poster child. Unsurprisingly, therefore, there is global interest across industrial and academic research in its removal and subsequent valorisation, including to methanol and its surrogates. Although difficult to study, the heterogenous pnictogens represent one important category of catalytic materials for these conversions; their high crustal abundance and low cost offers advantages in terms of sustainability. Here, Zintl clusters based on these elements are studied as homogenous atom-precise models in CO₂ reduction. A family of group 13 functionalized pnictogen clusters with the general formula [(R₂E)Pn₇]^2– (E = B, Al, In; Pn = P, As) is synthesized and their catalytic competency in the reduction of CO₂ probed. Trends in both turnover numbers and frequencies are compared across this series, and [(iBu₂Al)P₇]^2– found to be very high-performing and recyclable. Electronic structures across the series are compared using density functional theory to provide mechanistic insights.

虽然 CO₂ 不是唯一的温室气体，但它是典型的例子。因此，毫不奇怪，全球工业和学术研究都对它的去除和随后的价值化感兴趣，包括甲醇及其替代品。虽然难以研究，但异质 pnictogens 代表了这些转化的重要催化材料类别;它们的地壳丰度高、成本低，在可持续性方面具有优势。在这里，基于这些元素的 Zintl 团簇作为 CO₂ 还原中的齐次原子精确模型进行了研究。第 13 组功能化的 pnictogen 簇家族，通式为 [（R₂E）Pn₇]^2– （E = B， Al， In;Pn = P， As） 并探测它们在还原 CO₂ 中的催化能力。比较了该系列的周转次数和频率趋势，发现 [（iBu₂Al）P₇]^2– 性能非常高且可回收。使用密度泛函理论比较整个系列的电子结构，以提供机理见解。