Carbon dioxide reduction to methane and coupling with acetylene to form propylene catalyzed by remodeled nitrogenase

A doubly substituted form of the nitrogenase MoFe protein (α-70Val→Ala, α-195His→Gln) has the capacity to catalyze the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to yield methane (CH4). Under optimized conditions, 1 nmol of the substituted MoFe protein catalyzes the formation of 21 nmol of CH4 within 20 min. The catalytic rate depends on the partial pressure of CO2 (or concentration of HCO3−) and the electron flux through nitrogenase. The doubly substituted MoFe protein also has the capacity to catalyze the unprecedented formation of propylene (H2C = CH-CH3) through the reductive coupling of CO2 and acetylene (HC≡CH). In light of these observations, we suggest that an emerging understanding of the mechanistic features of nitrogenase could be relevant to the design of synthetic catalysts for CO2 sequestration and formation of olefins.

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