Selective Electrocatalytic Reduction of Nitrous Oxide to Dinitrogen with an Iron Porphyrin Complex

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is the third largest contributor to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and plays a detrimental role in the depletion of ozone. Despite the contribution of N2O as an atmospheric pollutant, there are currently only a few examples of electrochemical N2O remediation to N2. Herein we report the electrocatalytic deoxygenation of N2O by iron tetraphenylporphy-rin (FeTPP) to form N2 with quantitative Faradaic efficiency and an observed rate of 12.6 s-1. Comprehensive mechanistic in-vestigation of the proposed steps in the catalytic cycle determined that hydrogen-bond donors are critical for accelerating N2O activation and that proton transfer is involved in the rate-determining step.