[Mn(bipyridyl)(CO)3Br]: an abundant metal carbonyl complex as efficient electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction.

Manganese at work: carbonyl bipyridyl complexes based on manganese, a non-noble abundant and inexpensive metal, have been proved to be excellent molecular catalysts for the selective electrochemical reduction of CO(2) to CO under mild conditions. Another advantage of manganese complexes over rhenium complexes is that these catalysts operate at markedly less overpotential (0.40 V gain).