Silicon atoms bonding with carbon monoxide.

Turning Carbon Monoxide into Gold: The Silicon Chemistry Breakthrough

Jordan Keane in Science & Nature August 2025 • 4 min read.

"Discover how scientists are using silicon, the second most abundant element, to revolutionize carbon monoxide chemistry and create new materials."

In an era defined by the urgent need for sustainable energy solutions and innovative chemical processes, scientists are relentlessly exploring new ways to transform carbon monoxide (CO) into valuable multicarbon compounds. Carbon monoxide, often considered a waste product, holds immense potential as a building block for fuels, solvents, and a wide array of organic bulk chemicals. The key challenge lies in breaking the exceptionally strong bond between carbon and oxygen atoms.

Traditionally, this transformation has been the domain of transition metals, which act as catalysts to facilitate the reductive scission—or splitting—of the CO bond. However, a groundbreaking study has emerged, shifting the focus to silicon, the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust. This research explores how silicon can be harnessed to split and reductively couple CO under nonmatrix conditions, opening up exciting new possibilities for carbon monoxide chemistry.

In a recent study, researchers Yuwen Wang, Arseni Kostenko, et al. from the Department of Chemistry at Technische Universität Berlin have demonstrated a novel approach to CO coupling using divalent silicon. Their work, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), details the selective deoxygenative homocoupling of carbon monoxide mediated by silicon. This innovative method not only circumvents the need for rare and expensive transition metals but also offers a fresh perspective on CO activation and transformation.

Silicon's Unexpected Role in CO Chemistry

Silicon atoms bonding with carbon monoxide.

The conventional approach to transforming carbon monoxide into multicarbon compounds heavily relies on transition metals, which have been the workhorses of reductive carbonylation for decades. However, the reliance on these metals presents significant challenges, including their scarcity, high cost, and potential environmental impact. The new study challenges this paradigm by demonstrating that silicon, an abundant and environmentally benign element, can facilitate the reductive coupling of CO.

The researchers utilized specific divalent silicon compounds—(LSi:)2Xant 1a and (LSi:)2Fc 1b—as four-electron reduction reagents to achieve CO homocoupling under mild conditions (room temperature, 1 atmosphere). These compounds, featuring silicon atoms strategically positioned, effectively mediated the deoxygenative homocoupling of CO, resulting in the formation of corresponding disilylketenes, Xant(LSi)2(μ-O)(μ-CCO) 2a and Fc(LSi)2(μ-O)(μ-CCO) 2b.

Silicon's Abundance: Silicon is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust, making it a sustainable alternative to transition metals.
Mild Conditions: The reactions occur at room temperature and 1 atmosphere, reducing energy consumption and costs.
Selective Homocoupling: The process selectively produces disilylketenes, valuable precursors for various chemical syntheses.
Novel Reagents: The use of divalent silicon compounds (LSi:)2Xant 1a and (LSi:)2Fc 1b opens up new avenues in CO chemistry.

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations further illuminated the mechanism of CO activation by silicon. The calculations revealed that the initial step involves CO acting as a Lewis acid, accepting electrons from the silicon atoms. This is in sharp contrast to transition-metal-mediated CO activation, where CO typically acts as a Lewis base, donating electrons to the metal center. This novel mechanism underscores the unique electronic properties of silicon and its ability to engage in unconventional bonding interactions with carbon monoxide.

A Sustainable Future with Silicon Chemistry

The study by Wang, Kostenko, and colleagues marks a significant step forward in sustainable chemistry, offering a viable alternative to traditional transition-metal-based CO transformations. By harnessing the unique properties of silicon, this research paves the way for developing more environmentally friendly and cost-effective methods for producing valuable multicarbon compounds.

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This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.1021/jacs.8b11899, Alternate LINK

Title: Silicon-Mediated Selective Homo- And Heterocoupling Of Carbon Monoxide

Subject: Colloid and Surface Chemistry

Journal: Journal of the American Chemical Society

Publisher: American Chemical Society (ACS)

Authors: Yuwen Wang, Arseni Kostenko, Terrance J. Hadlington, Marcel-Philip Luecke, Shenglai Yao, Matthias Driess

Published: 2018-12-05

Everything You Need To Know

How does silicon enable carbon monoxide to form new compounds?

Researchers at Technische Universität Berlin demonstrated that divalent silicon compounds, specifically (LSi:)2Xant 1a and (LSi:)2Fc 1b, can mediate the deoxygenative homocoupling of carbon monoxide. This means that the silicon compounds facilitate the selective formation of carbon-carbon bonds from CO molecules while removing oxygen, leading to the creation of disilylketenes like Xant(LSi)2(μ-O)(μ-CCO) 2a and Fc(LSi)2(μ-O)(μ-CCO) 2b. This is significant because it provides an alternative to using transition metals.

Why is using silicon better than using transition metals for carbon monoxide transformations?

Traditional methods rely on transition metals to break the strong bond between carbon and oxygen in carbon monoxide and facilitate the formation of multicarbon compounds. However, transition metals are often scarce, expensive, and can have negative environmental impacts. The use of silicon offers a more sustainable and cost-effective alternative, as silicon is the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust. The study focuses on the reductive scission—or splitting—of the CO bond.

How do computational studies explain the unique role of silicon in activating carbon monoxide?

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that carbon monoxide acts as a Lewis acid when interacting with silicon, accepting electrons from the silicon atoms. This contrasts with transition-metal-mediated CO activation, where CO typically acts as a Lewis base, donating electrons to the metal center. This different mechanism highlights silicon's unique electronic properties and its ability to form unconventional bonds with carbon monoxide. This has implications for how new catalysts are designed.

What are the potential environmental and economic advantages of using silicon in this process?

The utilization of silicon offers several potential environmental and economic benefits. Silicon is abundant and environmentally benign, making it a more sustainable alternative to scarce and potentially harmful transition metals. The reaction conditions, which include room temperature and 1 atmosphere of pressure, reduce energy consumption and costs. Additionally, the selective production of disilylketenes offers valuable precursors for various chemical syntheses, enhancing the overall efficiency and value of the process.

What specific compounds are created when silicon reacts with carbon monoxide, and what are they used for?

The process results in the formation of disilylketenes, such as Xant(LSi)2(μ-O)(μ-CCO) 2a and Fc(LSi)2(μ-O)(μ-CCO) 2b. These disilylketenes are valuable precursors that can be used in various chemical syntheses to create other valuable compounds. The study's selective homocoupling of CO allows chemists to selectively produce these molecules. While the study outlines the creation of these precursors, it does not explicitly detail the full range of end-products that can be synthesized from them; that would be a subject of future research.