UC San Diego

Rhenium coordinating polyamide derived from 2,2’-bipyride-5,5’-biscarboxylic acid and 1,3-benzenedimethanamine were synthesized, analyzed for structure, and prepared into thin films on graphitic electrodes. Polyamides exhibited varying degrees of polymerization and coordination site occupation with rhenium complexes depending on preparation and synthesis conditions. Polymeric films were demonstrated to be an effective way to fabricate heterogeneous rhenium-bipyridine complexes for electrode fabrication. These materials displayed electrochemical activity and overpotentials similar to other heterogenized catalysts for selective CO2 reduction with a faradaic efficiency of 82%, 11,865 TON and TOF of 3.3 s-1.