Iron Porphyrins Embedded into a Supramolecular Porous Organic Cage for Electrochemical CO2 Reduction in Water

Abstract

A porous organic cage composed of six iron tetraphenylporphyrins was used as a supramolecular catalyst for electrochemical CO2-to-CO conversion. This strategy enhances active site exposure and substrate diffusion relative to the monomeric catalyst, resulting in CO generation with near-quantitative Faradaic efficiency in pH7.3 water, with activities reaching 55250 turnovers. These results provide a starting point for the design of supramolecular catalysts that can exploit the properties of the surrounding matrix yet retain the tunability of the original molecular unit.