As carbon dioxide emissions increase, so does the need for a solution to the increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. Through the electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide is produced. The carbon monoxide can then be used as a precursor to synthesize other fuels. The reduction from carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide is unfavorable both by kinetics and thermodynamics; therefore a catalyst is needed for the reaction to proceed. The most energetically favorable process for the reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide requires the transfer of two protons to carbon dioxide. From previously reported research it is known that the speed of a catalyst improves when it contains an intramolecular proton donor known as an intramolecular acid. In this research, we report how the number and position of intramolecular acids affect the efficiency and speed of carbon dioxide reduction catalysts. Specifically, we compare the performance of a catalyst containing two intramolecular acids to that of a catalyst containing only one intramolecular acid, and investigate the effect of moving the intramolecular acid further from the site at which the carbon dioxide binds.
