Reversible and Selective Interconversion of Hydrogen and Carbon Dioxide into Formate by a Semiartificial Formate Hydrogenlyase Mimic

The biological formate hydrogenlyase (FHL) complex links a formate dehydrogenase (FDH) to a hydrogenase (H 2 ase) and produces H 2 and CO 2 from formate via mixed-acid fermentation in Escherichia coli . Here, we describe an electrochemical and a colloidal semiartificial FHL system that consists of an FDH and a H 2 ase immobilized on conductive indium tin oxide (ITO) as an electron relay. These in vitro systems benefit from the efficient wiring of a highly active enzyme pair and allow for the reversible conversion of formate to H 2 and CO 2 under ambient temperature and pressure. The hybrid systems provide a template for the design of synthetic catalysts and surpass the FHL complex in vivo by storing and releasing H 2 on demand by interconverting CO 2 /H 2 and formate with minimal bias in either direction.