【Frontiers in HaiChuan Chemical Technology】Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, in collaboration with Wuhan University and Xi’an University of Science and Technology, has made new progress in the high-value utilization of CO2

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Converting CO2 into high-value chemicals is an important approach to achieving a low-carbon circular economy and the \"dual carbon\" goals. Among these, converting CO2 into fuels or chemicals using renewable electrical energy is a key technical approach. However, at present, the products of CO2 electroreduction are mainly C1 or C2 compounds; high-selective synthesis of polycarbonate products has not yet been achieved, especially the high-selective production of single polycarbonate compounds. Given the well-developed technical expertise for reducing CO2 to CO, as well as the ability of carbonylation reactions to selectively produce single polycarbon products, the high-value utilization of CO2 can be achieved by coupling CO2 reduction with carbonylation reactions. Recently, the Catalytic Carbonylation and Cyanation Group of the National Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Catalysis and Carbon Dioxide Utilization at the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Professor Zhuang Lin from Wuhan University and Professor Luo Zhenmin’s team from Xi’an University of Science and Technology, has made new progress in the utilization of CO2. Building on previous research on oxidative carbonylation (Science, 2024, 386: 776-782 ； Angew Chem Int Ed,2020,59: 2080-2084 ； ACS Catal.,2023,13: 735-743;ChemSusChem,2022,15: e202102400 ； Molecular Catalysis, 2020, 34, 182–192; 2024, 38, 297–308). Through a strategy for the complete utilization of CO2, researchers used CO/O2 generated by the co-electrolysis of CO2 and H2O as raw materials, and carried out oxidative dicarbonylation of ethylene/acetylene to synthesize CO2-based C4 diester compounds such as dimethyl succinate, dimethyl fumarate, and dimethyl maleate. These compounds have a wide range of applications in various fields including biodegradable polymers (polybutylene succinate), plasticizers, solvents, surfactants, and organic synthesis intermediates. Compared with traditional olefin/alkyne carbonylation, the oxidative carbonylation of olefins/alkynes can introduce two carbonyl groups simultaneously to produce more valuable chemicals. Furthermore, unelectrolyzed CO2 can serve as a gaseous explosion suppressant, capable of eliminating or reducing the potential explosion risks during the oxidative dicarbonylation reaction of ethylene/acetylene. The results show that at an industrial current density of 400 mA/cm2, the CO2-H2O co-electrolysis process exhibits excellent CO/O2 selectivity and stability. The high-concentration CO/O2 gas mixture produced by the co-electrolysis of CO2 and H2O can be directly used in the oxidative dicarbonylation reaction of ethylene/acetylene. Unreduced CO2 not only does not affect the activity or selectivity of the ethylene/acetylene oxidation dicarbonylation reaction during this process (the selectivity for CO2-derived C4 diester compounds is >98%), but it also allows the reaction to take place outside the explosion limit, demonstrating the excellent compatibility and safety of this tandem process. Substrate suitability extension and gram-scale scaling experiments further verified the potential application value of this strategy. The relevant research findings were published in Chinese Journal of Catalysis under the title “CO2-H2O Co-electrolysis to CO/O2 for Safe Oxidative Double Carbonylation of Ethylene/Acetylene” (Chin. J. Catal., 2025, 74: 202-210). This work was supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the **Key Research and Development Program**, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, major scientific and technological projects in Gansu Province, as well as the National Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Catalysis and Carbon Dioxide Utilization.