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Updated: Jan 23, 2026

Author Spotlight: A Rapid, Microwave-Assisted Hydrothermal Synthesis Of Nickel Hydroxide Nanosheets
Published on: August 18, 2023
One metal is enough: a nickel complex reduces nitrate anions to nitrogen gas
Jinseong Gwak1, Seihwan Ahn1,2, Mu-Hyun Baik2,1
1Department of Chemistry , Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) , Daejeon 34141 , South Korea . Email: yunholee@kaist.ac.kr ;
Abstract:
A stepwise reduction sequence from nitrate to dinitrogen gas at a single nickel center was discovered. A PNP nickel scaffold (PNP- = N[2-P Pr2-4-Me-C6H3]2) emerged as a universal platform for the deoxygenation of NO substrates. In these reactions carbon monoxide acts as the oxygen acceptor and forms CO2 to provide the necessary chemical driving force. Whereas the first two oxygens are removed from the Ni-nitrate and Ni-nitrite complexes with CO, the deoxygenation of NO requires a disproportionation reaction with another NO molecule to form NO2 and N2O. The final deoxygenation of nitrous oxide is accomplished by the Ni-NO complex and generates N2 and Ni-NO2 in a relatively slow, but clean reaction. This sequence of reactions is the first example of the complete denitrification of nitrate at a single metal-site and suggests a new paradigm of connecting CO and NO as an effective reaction pair for NO removal.
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