Using nature's blueprint to expand catalysis with Earth-abundant metals

R Morris Bullock; Jingguang G Chen; Laura Gagliardi; Paul J Chirik; Omar K Farha; Christopher H Hendon; Christopher W Jones; John A Keith; Jerzy Klosin; Shelley D Minteer; Robert H Morris; Alexander T Radosevich; Thomas B Rauchfuss; Neil A Strotman; Aleksandra Vojvodic; Thomas R Ward; Jenny Y Yang; Yogesh Surendranath

doi:10.1126/science.abc3183

Using nature's blueprint to expand catalysis with Earth-abundant metals

Science. 2020 Aug 14;369(6505):eabc3183. doi: 10.1126/science.abc3183.

Authors

R Morris Bullock¹, Jingguang G Chen^{2

3}, Laura Gagliardi⁴, Paul J Chirik⁵, Omar K Farha⁶, Christopher H Hendon⁷, Christopher W Jones⁸, John A Keith⁹, Jerzy Klosin¹⁰, Shelley D Minteer¹¹, Robert H Morris¹², Alexander T Radosevich¹³, Thomas B Rauchfuss¹⁴, Neil A Strotman¹⁵, Aleksandra Vojvodic¹⁶, Thomas R Ward¹⁷, Jenny Y Yang¹⁸, Yogesh Surendranath¹⁹

Affiliations

¹ Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA 99352, USA. morris.bullock@pnnl.gov jgchen@columbia.edu gagliard@umn.edu yogi@mit.edu.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. morris.bullock@pnnl.gov jgchen@columbia.edu gagliard@umn.edu yogi@mit.edu.
³ Chemistry Division, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973, USA.
⁴ Department of Chemistry, Minnesota Supercomputing Institute, and Chemical Theory Center, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA. morris.bullock@pnnl.gov jgchen@columbia.edu gagliard@umn.edu yogi@mit.edu.
⁵ Department of Chemistry, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
⁶ Department of Chemistry and Chemical and Biological Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
⁷ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.
⁸ School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
⁹ Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
¹⁰ Core R&D, Dow Chemical Co., Midland, MI 48674, USA.
¹¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
¹² Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada.
¹³ Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
¹⁴ School of Chemical Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
¹⁵ Process Research and Development, Merck & Co. Inc., Rahway, NJ 07065, USA.
¹⁶ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
¹⁷ Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, CH-4058 Basel, Switzerland.
¹⁸ Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
¹⁹ Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. morris.bullock@pnnl.gov jgchen@columbia.edu gagliard@umn.edu yogi@mit.edu.

Abstract

Numerous redox transformations that are essential to life are catalyzed by metalloenzymes that feature Earth-abundant metals. In contrast, platinum-group metals have been the cornerstone of many industrial catalytic reactions for decades, providing high activity, thermal stability, and tolerance to chemical poisons. We assert that nature's blueprint provides the fundamental principles for vastly expanding the use of abundant metals in catalysis. We highlight the key physical properties of abundant metals that distinguish them from precious metals, and we look to nature to understand how the inherent attributes of abundant metals can be embraced to produce highly efficient catalysts for reactions crucial to the sustainable production and transformation of fuels and chemicals.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

R01 GM061153/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States