Abstract
Direct photocatalytic conversion of methanol into high-value multi-carbon chemicals through precisely controlled C − C coupling represents an extremely appealing but challenging goal. Herein, we demonstrate the efficient photoredox-driven dehydrocoupling of methanol into divergent synthesis of ethylene glycol and glycolaldehyde concomitantly with H2 production by structural regulation of atomically dispersed Ni species. We showcase distinctly different reaction pathway for divergent C − C coupling of methanol over two types of atomically dispersed Ni cocatalyst-decorated SiO quantum dots, namely those with single Ni atoms (Ni1-SiO/SiO2) and Ni clusters (Nin-CdS/SiO2). The Ni1-CdS/SiO2 generates ethylene glycol with 90% selectivity by a radical homo-coupling pathway, whereas the Nin-CdS/SiO2 achieves 96% selectivity towards glycolaldehyde by a radical addition-elimination pathway. This work not only offers a fascinating nonpetroleum route for the divergent C–C coupling synthesis of ethylene glycol and glycolaldehyde but also underscores the broad vista of modulating non-selective radicals toward selective transformation of methanol into multi-carbon products.
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Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22572017 and 22072023 to Z.-R.T.; 22472032 and 22172030 to Y.-J.X.), the Program for National Science and Technology Innovation Leading Talents (00387072 to Y.-J.X.), the Research Fund for Outstanding Talents at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (A1098531023601522 to Y.-J.X.), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2023M740513 to M.-Y.Q.), the China National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talents (BX20240055 to M.-Y.Q.), the Jiangxi Province “Double Thousand Plan” (No. jxsq2023102143 to Y.-J.X.) and the Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province (2026NSFSC0077 to Y.-J.X.; 2026NSFSC0078 to Z.-R.T.; 2026NSFSC0831 to M.-Y.Q.).
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M.-Y.Q. and Y.-J.X. created the concept and designed the overall project. M.-Y.Q. designed and conducted the experiments, analyzed the data and drafted the article. C.-L.T., Z.-R.T., M.C., and Y.S reviewed and edited the manuscript. All the authors discussed and revised the paper.
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Qi, MY., Tan, CL., Tang, ZR. et al. Efficient methanol upcycling to ethylene glycol and glycolaldehyde via divergent C−C coupling synthesis. Nat Commun (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69656-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-69656-x
