Electrolyte-enabled C–C cross-coupling for directed CO2-to-ethylene conversion

Electrolyte-enabled C–C cross-coupling for directed CO2-to-ethylene conversion | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Physical Sciences - Article Electrolyte-enabled C–C cross-coupling for directed CO2-to-ethylene conversion Xin Jia, Ke Yi, Fei Zhao, Tianwen Fang, Yuzhu Ding, Zhenyu Sun, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9291588/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Electrolyte engineering is critical for steering CO2 electroreduction toward multicarbon products such as ethylene1,2, yet achieving directed conversion and pathway selectivity remains challenging. Here we show an amino-functionalized ionic liquids (AFILs) electrolyte-enabled C-C cross-coupling pathway for directed ethylene synthesis on single-atom catalysts (SACs). AFILs chemically capture CO2 as carbamates, boosting CO production and generating high local CO coverage. The resulting carbamate-derived intermediates (-NHCO*) act as an activated C1 partner, undergoing C-C cross-coupling with CO from SACs and thereby bypassing the need for adjacent metal sites—a key limitation for conventional C-C coupling on SACs. AFILs further stabilize critical intermediates (e.g., *OCCO, *OCCOH) through a hydrogen-bonding network and restructure interfacial water to enhance proton availability. These combined effects lower the reaction barrier while suppressing competing hydrogen evolution and methane formation. By tuning the AFIL structure (Mono‑ vs. Dual‑AFIL), CO2 conversion can be steered selectively toward ethylene, achieving a Faradaic efficiency of 80.5% at a current density of 316.2 mA cm–2 in flow cell. This study introduces an electrolyte-enabled C-C cross-coupling pathway that bypasses the inherent geometric constraints of SACs, opening a new route to direct CO2 electroreduction toward valuable multi-carbon products. Physical sciences/Chemistry/Electrochemistry/Electrocatalysis Physical sciences/Chemistry/Energy Physical sciences/Chemistry/Green chemistry/Ionic liquids Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Supplementary Files 20260401SupplementaryFigureandtable.docx Supplementary Information-Electrolyte-enabled C–C cross-coupling for directed CO2-to-ethylene conversion Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9291588","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Physical Sciences - Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":616440596,"identity":"bd43b75c-511d-452b-8b05-c90f2be2a726","order_by":0,"name":"Xin 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