Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S. in Chemistry

Department

Chemistry and Biochemistry

First Advisor

Jonah Jurss

Second Advisor

Jared H. Delcamp

Third Advisor

Jason Ritchie

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas, but also represents a readily accessible C1 feedstock for conversion to solar fuels and value-added chemicals. However, CO2 is relatively inert and very negative voltages or strong chemical reductants are comfor its conversion. An additional challenge lies in achieving these reactions in water where aqueous protons are utilized selectively for CO2 reduction rather than hydrogen generation. Our strategy for CO2 reduction involves the design of new homogeneous catalysts with tunable geometries and polyaromatic frameworks with increased delocalization to lower overpotentials for catalysis. We report a family of biaryl-bridged pyridyl-N-heterocyclic carbene-based ligands and their corresponding nickel complexes. Ligand synthesis, structural characterization of complexes, and their application in electrocatalytic CO2 reduction are discussed.

Included in

Chemistry Commons

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