2026 Crabtree Symposium: Fe-mediated N2-fixation and lessons for other metals: Bridging catalysis, electrocatalysis, and photocatalysis

Please join Yale Chemistry for the 2026 Robert H. Crabtree Symposium in inorganic chemistry with Jonas C. Peters, Bren Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Resnick Sustainability Institute at Caltech.

Abstract: Nitrogen reduction to ammonia is a requisite transformation for life, and there is growing interest in developing sustainable technologies for distributed ammonia synthesis for fertilizer and fuel using renewably sourced energy. Our group has had an ongoing interest in fundamental studies of well-defined synthetic catalysts that mediate nitrogen reduction (N₂R) to ammonia (or hydrazine). We are especially interested in the operative mechanisms by which these catalysts operate. Most recently, we have been pursuing the idea that proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) pathways for N2R can be more thermally efficient than step-wise ET/PT pathways and have tested this hypothesis via the development of electrochemical PCET (ePCET) mediators driven at potentials sufficiently anodic that the competing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is mitigated. We are also pursuing electrocatalytic strategies that exploit an ET instead of a PCET mediator based on samarium redox. Well-defined catalytic systems that mediate photodriven and (photo)electrochemical N2R are also of interest. Here, visible light rather than temperature and pressure, or electrochemical potential, can provide a primary driving force needed for catalytic ammonia generation.

The Peters Group’s studies in (bio)inorganic and organometallic chemistry emphasize new concepts for catalysis, electrocatalysis, and photocatalysis to drive important and mechanistically fascinating transformations. These include reactions of biological significance (e.g., N₂-to-NH₃ conversion), and transformations of consequence to global sustainability and human health (e.g., solar fuels viaelectrocatalytic CO₂ and N₂ fixation), including the development of electrocatalytic proton-coupled electron transfer (ePCET) mediators for selective reductions of unsaturated (including organic) substrates. Within each area, the Peters Group aims to establish and understand what underpins the reactivity patterns they discover, thereby gaining insight into the fundamental principles behind these catalytic transformations. Using a range of spectroscopies and accompanying theoretical studies, they map electronic structures alongside studies of the corresponding mechanistic pathways. For more information on Prof. Peters’ research: The Peters Group.

Hosted by Prof. Nilay Hazari and Prof. Gary Brudvig