CO-to-sugars conversion from one-pot two-step electro-organocatalytic process

TL;DR

Scientists developed a two-step process to convert carbon monoxide into sugars, offering a sustainable way to make complex carbon molecules.

Contribution

A novel one-pot two-step system for CO-to-sugars conversion using electroreduction and organocatalysis.

Findings

Electroreduction of CO to formaldehyde was successfully integrated with organocatalytic oligomerization.

The process selectively produces C5–6 carbohydrates with formaldehyde as the intermediate.

This method provides a sustainable route for synthesizing complex carbon chains from CO.

Abstract

The conversion of C1 molecules (single-carbon species) into Cn products (carbon chains) is a key challenge for developing sustainable chemical feedstocks to replace fossil resources. Carbohydrates, a vital class of complex polycarbon molecules, are mainly extracted from biomass, but de novo synthesis provides a complementary route to access rare and non-natural carbohydrates. Here, we report a fully integrated, one-pot two-step system converting carbon monoxide (CO) into carbohydrates. This process couples the electroreduction of CO to formaldehyde with the organocatalytic oligomerization of formaldehyde into C5–6 carbohydrates selectively. This work establishes a novel pathway to utilize CO as a building block for synthesizing complex carbon chains.

A one-pot two-step process combining electroreduction and organocatalysis to selectively transform CO into C5–6 carbohydrates with formaldehyde as the key intermediate.

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