Bioinspired chemistry of energy consequence: First- And second-sphere coordination approaches

Energy is a grand challenge facing our planet's future, prompting widespread interest in developing sustainable energy production and consumption cycles that are carbon neutral. In this regard, we seek to contribute to this effort by devising new catalytic systems to transform and interconvert between small molecules suitable for renewable, carbon-neutral energy conversion processes, including water, oxygen, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and methanol. This presentation will describe our most recent work in bioinspired chemistry of consequence to renewable energy, with particular interest in activation and generation of hydrogen and oxygen from platforms that house iron and other first-row transition metals that are more abundant and less expensive than their noble metal counterparts. This research is supported by the University of California, Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Beckman Foundation, and the Packard Foundation.