Accessing Organonitrogen Compounds via C–N Coupling in Electrocatalytic CO₂ Reduction

Given the limited product variety of electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction reactions solely from CO₂ and H₂O as the reactants, it is desirable to expand the product scope by introducing additional reactants that provide elemental diversity. The integration of inorganic heteroatom-containing reactants into electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction could, in principle, enable the sustainable synthesis of valuable products, such as organonitrogen compounds, which have widespread applications but typically rely on NH₃ derived from the energy-intensive and fossil-fuel-dependent Haber–Bosch process for their industrial-scale production. In this Perspective, research progress toward building C–N bonds in N-integrated electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction is highlighted, and the electrosyntheses of urea, acetamides, and amines are examined from the standpoints of reactivity, catalyst structure, and, most fundamentally, mechanism.