Ab Initio-Based Kinetic Modeling for the Design of Molecular Catalysts: The Case of H 2 Production Electrocatalysts
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Liquid phase dehydration of 1-octdecanol, which is intermediately formed during the hydrodeoxygenation of microalgae oil, has been explored in a combined experimental and computational study. The alkyl chain of C18 alcohol interacts with acid sites during diffusion inside the zeolite pores, resulting in an inefficient utilization of the Brønsted acid sites for samples with high acid site concentrations. The parallel intra- and inter- molecular dehydration pathways having different activation energies pass through alternative reaction intermediates. Formation of surface-bound alkoxide species is the rate-limiting step during intramolecular dehydration, whereas intermolecular dehydration proceeds via a bulky dimer intermediate. Octadecene is the primary dehydration product over H-BEA at 533 K. Despite of the main contribution of Brønsted acid sites towards both dehydration pathways, Lewis acid sites are also active in the formation of dioctadecyl ether. The intramolecular dehydration to octadecene and cleavage of the intermediately formed ether, however, require strong BAS. L. Wang, D. Mei and J. A. Lercher, acknowledge the partial support from the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a multiprogram national laboratory operated for DOE by Battelle. Computing time was granted by the grand challenge of computational catalysis of the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) and by the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC). EMSL is a national scientific user facility located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and sponsored by DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research.
Using a traditional aqueous solution ion-exchange method under a protecting atmosphere of N2, a series of Fe/SSZ-13 catalysts with various Fe loadings were synthesized. UV-Vis, EPR and Mössbauer spectroscopies, coupled with temperature programmed reduction and desorption techniques, were used to probe the nature of the Fe sites. The major monomeric and dimeric Fe species are extra-framework [Fe(OH)2]+ and [HO-Fe-O-Fe-OH]2+. Larger oligomers with unknown nuclearity, poorly crystallized Fe2O3 particles, together with isolated Fe2+ ions, are minor Fe-containing moieties. Reaction rate and Fe loading correlations suggest that isolated Fe3+ ions are the active sites for standard SCR while the dimeric sites are the active centers for NO oxidation. NH3 oxidation, on the other hand, is catalyzed by sites with higher nuclearity. A low-temperature standard SCR reaction network is proposed that includes redox cycling of both monomeric and dimeric Fe species, for SCR and NO2 generation, respectively. The authors gratefully acknowledge the US Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technologies Program for the support of this work. The research described in this paper was performed at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated for the US DOE by Battelle.
In this study, the promotional effects of cesium promoter on higher alcohol (C2+OH) synthesis from syngas over Cs-Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalysts were investigated using a combined experimental and theoretical density functional theory (DFT) calculation method. In the presence of cesium, the C2+OH productivity increases from 77.1 g•kgcat-1•h-1 to 157.3 g•kgcat-1•h-1 at 583 K due to the enhancement of the initial C–C bond formation. Detailed analysis of chain growth probabilities (CGPs) confirms that initial C–C bond formation is the rate-determining step in the temperature range of 543-583 K. Addition of cesium promoter significantly increases the productivities of 2-methyl-1-propanol, while the CGPs values (C3* to 2-methyl-C3*) is almost unaffected. With the assistance of cesium promoter, the CGPs of the initial C–C bond formation step (C1* to C2*) could be increased from 0.13 to 0.25 at 583 K. DFT calculations indicate that the initial C–C bond formation is mainly contributed by the HCO+HCO coupling reaction over the ZnCu(211) model surface. In the presence of the Cs2O, the stabilities of key reaction intermediates such as HCO and H2CO are enhanced which facilitates both HCO+HCO and HCO+H2CO coupling reaction steps with lower activation barriers over the Cs2O-ZnCu(211) surface. The promotional effects of cesium on the C2+OH productivity are also benefited from the competitive CH+HCO coupling reaction over CH hydrogenation that leads to lower alkane formation. In addition, Bader charge analysis suggests that the presence of cesium ions would facilitate the nucleophilic reaction between HCO and H2CO for initial C–C bond formation. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 91545114 and No. 91545203). We appreciate the joint PhD scholarship support from the China Scholarship Council. The authors would also like to thank the support from Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (2011-iChEM). DM was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. Computing time was granted by the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL). EMSL is a national scientific user facility located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and sponsored by DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research. PNNL is a multiprogram national laboratory operated for DOE by Battelle Memorial Institute. We also appreciate the support from Sinochem Quanzhou Petrochemical Co. Ltd.
Fe/SSZ-13 catalysts (Si/Al = 12, Fe loadings 0.37% and 1.20%) were prepared via solution ion-exchange, and hydrothermally aged at 600, 700 and 800 C. The fresh and aged catalysts were characterized with surface area/pore volume analysis, Mössbauer, solid-state MAS NMR, NO titration FTIR spectroscopies, and TEM and APT imaging. Hydrothermal aging causes dealumination of the catalysts, and transformation of various Fe sites. The latter include conversion of free Fe2+ ions to dimeric Fe(III) species, the agglomeration of isolated Fe-ions to Fe-oxide clusters, and incorporation of Al into the Fe-oxide species. These changes result in complex influences on standard SCR and NO/NH3 oxidation reactions. In brief, mild aging causes catalyst performance enhancement for SCR, while harsh aging at 800 C deteriorates SCR performance. In comparison to Fe/zeolites more prone to hydrothermal degradation, this study demonstrates that via the utilization of highly hydrothermally stable Fe/SSZ-13 catalysts, more accurate correlations between various Fe species and their roles in SCR related chemistries can be made. The authors gratefully acknowledge the US Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technologies Office for the support of this work. The research described in this paper was performed in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated for the US DOE by Battelle.
The hydrothermal stability of Cu/SSZ-13 SCR catalysts has been extensively studied, yet atomic level understanding of changes to the zeolite support and the Cu active sites during hydrothermal aging are still lacking. In this work, via the utilization of spectroscopic methods including solid-state 27Al and 29Si NMR, EPR, DRIFTS, and XPS, together with imaging and elemental mapping using STEM, detailed kinetic analyses, and theoretical calculations with DFT, various Cu species, including two types of isolated active sites and CuOx clusters, were precisely quantified for samples hydrothermally aged under varying conditions. This quantification convincingly confirms the exceptional hydrothermal stability of isolated Cu2+-2Z sites, and the gradual conversion of [Cu(OH)]+-Z to CuOx clusters with increasing aging severity. This stability difference is rationalized from the hydrolysis activation barrier difference between the two isolated sites via DFT. Discussions are provided on the nature of the CuOx clusters, and their possible detrimental roles on catalyst stability. Finally, a few rational design principles for Cu/SSZ-13 are derived rigorously from the atomic-level understanding of this catalyst obtained here. The authors gratefully acknowledge the US Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technologies Office for the support of this work. Computing time was granted by a user proposal at the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL) and by the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC). The experimental studies described in this paper were performed in the EMSL, a national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated for the US DOE by Battelle.
The effect of aqueous phase on the acetic acid ketonization over monoclinic zirconia has been investigated using first-principles based density functional theory (DFT) calculations. To capture the aqueous phase chemistry over the solid zirconia catalyst surface, the aqueous phase is represented by 111 explicit water molecules with a liquid water density of 0.93 g/cm3 and the monoclinic zirconia is modeled by the most stable surface structure . The dynamic nature of aqueous phase/ interface was studied using ab initio molecular dynamics simulation, indicating that nearly half of the surface Zr sites are occupied by either adsorbed water molecules or hydroxyl groups at 550 K. DFT calculations show that the adsorption process of acetic acid from the liquid water phase to the surface is nearly thermodynamically neutral with a Gibbs free energy of -2.3 kJ/mol although the adsorption strength of acetic acid on the surface in aqueous phase is much stronger than in vapor phase. Therefore it is expected that the adsorption of acetic acid will dramatically affects aqueous phase ketonization reactivity over the monoclinic zirconia catalyst. Using the same ketonization mechanism via the β-keto acid intermediate, we have compared acetic acid ketonization to acetone in both vapor and aqueous phases. Our DFT calculation results show although the rate-determining step of the β-keto acid formation via the C-C coupling is not pronouncedly affected, the presence of liquid water molecules will dramatically affect dehydrogenation and hydrogenation steps via proton transfer mechanism. This work was financially supported by the United States Department of Energy (DOE)’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and performed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is a multi-program national laboratory operated for DOE by Battelle Memorial Institute. Computing time and advanced catalyst characterization use was granted by a user proposal at the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL). EMSL is a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at PNNL.
The utilization of CO 2 to generate chemical fuels, such as formic acid, is a potentially beneficial route to balance carbon emissions and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. The development of efficient catalysts for CO 2 hydrogenation is needed to implement this fuel generation. In the molecular catalyst design presented here, we utilize covalent attachment of a rhodium complex, ([Rh(PN gly P) 2 ] + where PN Gly P is defined as P Et 2 -CH 2 -N( CH 2 CO 2 - )-CH 2 -P Et 2 ) to a protein scaffold, lactococcal multidrug resistant regulator from Lactococcus lactis, to create an environment around the metal center that can be used to control substrate delivery and therefore enable and improve catalytic activity. The reactivity of the rhodium complex and the synthetic metalloenzyme were characterized by high pressure operando NMR techniques. The rhodium complex in solution is not a catalyst for CO 2 hydrogenation. The incorporation of the molecular complex into the protein scaffold results in a gain of function, turning on CO 2 hydrogenation activity. The metalloenzyme displays a turnover frequency of 0.38 h -1 at 58 atm and 298 K; and achieved an average turnover number of 14 3. Proposed catalytic intermediates generated and characterized indicate the protein scaffold enables catalysis by facilitating the interaction between CO 2 and the hydride donor intermediate. Research was funded by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development program at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for the US Department of Energy. This structural work is supported as part of the Biological and Electron Transfer and Catalysis (BETCy) EFRC, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science (DE-SC0012518) to J.W.P. and O.A.Z. No competing financial interests have been declared.This work was performed in part using the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Use of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences under Contract No. DE-AC02-76SF00515. The SSRL Structural Molecular Biology Program is supported by the DOE Office of Biological and Environmental Research, and by the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of General Medical Sciences (including P41GM103393).
A Cu/SSZ-13 catalyst containing predominately Z2Cu sites is prepared. Using diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS), two non-steady state measurements, (1) continuous NO titration of an NH3 saturated catalyst and (2) intermittent NO on/off during quasi-steady state (i.e., NO perturbation), are conducted to shed light on active sites, reaction intermediates, and possible reaction mechanisms. During continuous NO titration, a strong NH3 inhibition effect is found, where Cu active sites containing NH3 ligands are less active than Cu sites depleted of NH3 ligands. In the NO perturbation experiments, it is demonstrated that NO+NH3 interactions lead to formation of Brønsted acid sites, which further interact with NH3 to form NH4+. Such a finding is fully consistent with a redox SCR mechanism proposed recently (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 11828–11833). Perturbation measurements, using ND3 to replace NH3 in order to distinguish ammonia and nitrate vibrations, further show that NH4NO3 and other surface nitrates are not involved in the SCR process under typical low temperature quasi-steady state conditions. This work was financially supported by the national key research and development program of China (2017YFC0211302 and 2017YFC0211003), the Sino Japanese cooperation project (2016YFE0126600) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2017M620800). FG and CHFP gratefully acknowledge financial support for their participation from the US Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Vehicle Technologies Office. A portion of this work was performed in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated for the US DOE by Battelle.
Investment in brighter sources and larger and faster detectors has accelerated the speed of data acquisition at national user facilities. The accelerated data acquisition offers many opportunities for the discovery of new materials, but it also presents a daunting challenge. The rate of data acquisition far exceeds the current speed of data quality assessment, resulting in less than optimal data and data coverage, which in extreme cases forces recollection of data. Herein, we show how this challenge can be addressed through the development of an approach that makes routine data assessment automatic and instantaneous. By extracting and visualizing customized attributes in real time, data quality and coverage, as well as other scientifically relevant information contained in large data sets, is highlighted. Deployment of such an approach not only improves the quality of data but also helps optimize the usage of expensive characterization resources by prioritizing measurements of the highest scientific impact. We anticipate our approach will become a starting point for a sophisticated decision-tree that optimizes data quality and maximizes scientific content in real time through automation. Finally, with these efforts to integrate more automation in data collection and analysis, we can truly take advantage of the accelerating speed of data acquisition.
Hydrogenase enzymes provide inspiration for investigations of molecular catalysts utilizing structural and functional mimics of the active site. However, the resulting active site mimics cannot match the combination of high rates and low overpotentials of the enzyme, suggesting that the rest of the protein scaffold, i.e., the outer coordination sphere, is necessary for the efficiency of hydrogenase. Therefore, inclusion of outer coordination sphere elements onto molecular catalysts may enable us to achieve and ultimately surpass the overall enzymatic efficiency. In an effort to identify and include the missing enzymatic features, there has been recent effort to understand the effect of outer coordination sphere elements on molecular catalysts for hydrogen oxidation and production. Our focus has been to utilize amino acid or peptide based scaffolds on an active functional mimic for hydrogen oxidation and production, [Ni(PR2NR’2)2]2+. This bottom-up approach, i.e, building an outer coordination sphere around a functional molecular catalyst, has allowed us to evaluate individual contributions to catalysis, including enhancing proton movement, concentrating substrate and introducing structural features to control reactivity. Collectively, these studies have resulted in catalysts that can operate faster, can operate at lower overpotentials, have enhanced water solubility, and/or can provide more stability to oxygen or extreme conditions such as strongly acidic or basic conditions than their unmodified parent complexes. Common mechanisms have yet to be defined to predictably control these processes but our growing knowledge in this area is essential for the eventual mimicry of enzymes for developing efficient molecular catalysts for practical use. This account reviews previously published work supported by the US DOE Basic Energy Sciences (BES), Physical Bioscience program, the Office of Science Early Career Research Program through the USDOE, BES, the Center for Molecular Electrocatalysis, an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the US DOE, Office of Science, Office of BES. Part of the research was conducted at the W.R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a national scientific user facility sponsored by U.S. DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research program located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy.
The prevalent approach to developing new nanomaterials is a trial and error process of iteratively altering synthesis procedures and then characterizing the resulting nanostructures. This is fundamentally limited in that the growth processes that occur during synthesis can only be inferred from the final synthetic structure. Directly observing real-time nanomaterial growth provides unprecedented insight into the relationship between synthesis conditions and product evolution, and facilitates a mechanistic approach to nanomaterial development. Here we use in situ liquid stage scanning transmission electron microscopy to observe the growth of mesoporous palladium in a solvated block copolymer (BCP) template under various synthesis conditions, and ultimately determine a refined synthesis procedure that yields ordered pores. We find that at low organic solvent (tetrahydrofuran, THF) content, the BCP assembles into a rigid, cylindrical micelle array with a high degree of short-range order, but poor long-range order. Upon slowing the THF evaporation rate using a solvent-vapor anneal step, the long-range order is greatly improved. The electron beam induces nucleation of small particles in the aqueous phase around the micelles. The small particles then flocculate and grow into denser structures that surround the micelles, forming an ordered mesoporous structure. The microscope observations revealed that template disorder can be addressed prior to reaction, and is not invariably induced by the growth process itself, allowing us to more quickly optimize the synthetic method. This work was conducted in the William R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-76RL01830. This research was funded in part by: the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientist and Engineers for I.A., the University of California Academic Senate and the University of California Laboratory fee research grant, the Laboratory-Directed Research and Development program at Sandia National Laboratories, and the Chemical Imaging Initiative at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.
Based on density functional theory calculations and simulation, a detailed mechanism is presented on the formation of the secondary building unit (SBU) of MIL-101, a chromium terephthalate metal-organic framework (MOF). SBU formation is key to MOF nucleation, the rate-limiting step in the formation process of many MOFs. A series of reactions that lead to the formation of the SBU of MIL-101 is proposed in this work. Initial rate-limiting reactions form the metal cluster with three chromium (III) atoms linked to a central bridging oxygen. Terephthalate linkers play a key role as chromium (III) atoms are joined to linker carboxylate groups prior to the placement of the central bridging oxygen. Multiple linker addition reactions, which follow in different paths due to structural isomers, are limited by the removal of water molecules in the first chromium coordination shell. The least energy path is identified were all linkers on one face of the metal center plane are added first. A simple kinetic model based on transition state theory shows the rate of secondary building unit formation similar to the rate metal-organic framework nucleation. The authors are thankful to Dr. R. Rousseau for a critical reading of the manuscript. This research would not have been possible without the support of the Office of Fossil Energy, U.S. Department of Energy. This research was performed using EMSL, a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research and the PNNL Institutional Computing (PIC) program located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Temperature programmed reaction and scanning transmission electron microscopy experiments were applied to prove the requirement of two different catalyst functionalities for the reduction of CO2 with hydrogen on Pd/Al2O3 and Pd/MWCNT catalysts. The research described in this paper was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) program of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and was performed at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at PNNL. PNNL is operated for the US DOE by Battelle Memorial Institute.
SAPO-34 molecular sieves are synthesized using various structure directing agents (SDAs). Cu-SAPO-34 catalysts are prepared via aqueous solution ion exchange. Catalysts are characterized with surface area/pore volume measurements, temperature programmed reduction (TPR), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies. Catalytic properties are examined using standard ammonia selective catalytic reduction (NH3-SCR) and ammonia oxidation reactions. During solution ion exchange, different SAPO-34 samples undergo different extent of structural damage via irreversible hydrolysis. Si content within the samples (i.e., Al-O-Si bond density) and framework stress are key factors that affect irreversible hydrolysis. Even using very dilute Cu acetate solutions, it is not possible to generate Cu-SAPO-34 samples with only isolated Cu2+ ions. Small amounts of CuOx species always coexist with isolated Cu2+ ions. Highly active and selective Cu-SAPO-34 catalysts for NH3-SCR are readily generated using this synthesis protocol, even for SAPO-34 samples that degrade substantially during solution ion exchange. High-temperature aging is found to improve the catalytic performance. This is likely due to reduction of intracrystalline mass-transfer limitations via formation of additional porosity in the highly defective SAPO-34 particles formed after ion exchange. The authors gratefully acknowledge the US Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Office of Vehicle Technologies for the support of this work. The research described in this paper was performed at the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated for the US DOE by Battelle Memorial Institute under contract number DE-AC05-76RL01830.
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A series of [Rh(PCH2XRCH2P)2]+ complexes were prepared to investigate second and outer coordination sphere effects on CO2 hydrogenation catalysis, where X is CH2 (dppp) or X-R is N-CH3, N-CH2COOH (glycine), N-CH2COOCH3 (Gly-OMe) or N-CH2C(O)N-CH(CH3)COOCH3 (GlyAla-OMe). All of these modified complexes were active for CO2 reduction to formate, with the N-CH3 derivative offering an eight-fold enhancement over dppp, which is consistent with decreased electron density around the phosphorous (and corresponding increase in electron density around the metal) observed in the 31P NMR spectrum. Despite the increase in rate with the addition of the pendant nitrogen, the addition of electron withdrawing amino acids and dipeptides to the amine resulted in complexes with reductions in rate of one to two orders of magnitude, most consistent with a change in pKa of the pendant amine resulting in lower activity. Collectively, the data suggests multiple contributions of the pendant amine in this catalytic system. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a multiprogram national laboratory operated for the DOE by Battelle. A portion of this research was performed using EMSL, a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
We present the results of a density functional theory (DFT) within the LDA+U approximation on large models of partially reduced TiO2 (110) rutile surface to investigate the nature of charge transfer and the role of non-adiabatic effects on three prototypical redox reactions: (i) O2 adsorption (ii) CO oxidation and (iii) CO2 reduction. Charge-constrained DFT (cDFT) is used to estimate kinetic parameters for a Marcus theory rate law that accounts for adiabatic coupling effects on reaction rates. We find that for O2 adsorption, the coupling between adiabatic states is strong, leading to fast charge transfer rates. The lowest energy structures at high coverage consist of two chemisorbed O2-, one adsorbed at a VO site and the other adsorbed at an adjacent Ti5C site. For CO oxidation, however, all reactions are kinetically hindered on the ground state due to the weak adiabatic coupling at the state crossing, such that one has to overcome two kinetically unfavorable charge transfer events to drive the process (non-adiabatically) on the thermal ground state. The process can be driven by photochemical means but would result in an adsorbed radical [OCOO-] intermediate species. Similarly, CO2 reduction also proceeds via a non-adiabatic charge transfer to form an adsorbed CO2- species followed by a second non-adiabatic charge transfer to produce CO. Our analysis provides important computational guidelines for modeling these types of processes. We thank Z. Dohnalek, M. Hendersen, G. Kimmel, H. Metieu, and N. Petrik for invaluable discussions. This work was supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences & Biosciences and performed at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is a multi-program national laboratory operated for DOE by Battelle. Computational resources were provided at W. R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research located at PNNL and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.