Retraction of “Sorbent Mediated Electrocatalytic Reduction of Dilute CO2to Methane”

Abstract

The authors retract this article (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.4c18303) because the main conclusion─that CO 2 is the source of methane─is no longer supported. Additional experimentation showed inconsistencies in when methane was observed as a product. The original data were revisited, and it was found that the mass spectrometer used in the 13CO 2 isotope labeling experiment was improperly calibrated. The 13CO 2 experiment was repeated with a correctly calibrated instrument, and no incorporation of 13C was found in the CH 4 product. An analysis of all of the reagents used in the catalytic reaction identified a dichloromethane impurity in the tetrahydrofuran from our solvent purification system. No methane is observed when tetrahydrofuran free of dichloromethane is used. Although only the DPICx substrate was revisited in these experiments, it is suspected that the CH 2 Cl 2 impurity is potentially the source for the CH 4 detected with the other substrates in Table 1. As such, the article is being retracted. The original article was published on May 6, 2025, and was retracted on October 31, 2025.