Tandem Catalysis of Direct CO₂ Hydrogenation to Higher Alcohols

Direct CO2 hydrogenation to higher alcohols (HA) is highly attractive but remains a huge challenge due to the low HA productivity. Herein we develop a highly active multifunctional catalyst composed of CuZnAl and K-CuMgZnFe oxides which significantly improve the HA space time yield (STY) to 106.5 mg gcat–1 h–1 (2.24 mmol gcat–1 h–1) with more than 90% of the HA fraction in total alcohol products. A strong synergistic effect occurs when these two components are in proper proximity and at an appropriate mass ratio, which can efficiently facilitate the conversion of CO2 to HA by promoting the formation of a *CO intermediate via the reverse water gas shift reaction over CuZnAl and subsequently the *CO migration and conversion on K-CuMgZnFe.