CO-to-sugars conversion from one-pot-two step electro-organocatalytic process

The conversion of C1 molecules (single-carbon species) into Cn products (carbon chains) is a key challenge for developing sustainable chemical feedstocks to replace fossil resources. Carbohydrates, a vital class of complex polycarbon molecules, are mainly extracted from biomass, but de novo synthesis provides a complementary route to access rare and non-natural carbohydrates. Here, we report a fully integrated, one-pot two-step system converting carbon monoxide (CO) into carbohydrates. This process couples the electroreduction of CO to formaldehyde with the organocatalytic oligomerization of formaldehyde into C5–6 carbohydrates selectively. This work establishes a novel pathway to utilize CO as a building block for synthesizing complex carbon chains.