Copper Coordination Materials for Selective CO 2 Electroreduction Toward Multi‐Carbon Products

ABSTRACT The electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) is a highly promising carbon neutralization pathway to enable efficient CO 2 conversion into high‐value–added multi‐carbon (C 2+ ) fuels and chemicals. However, the formation of C 2+ products involves complex C−C coupling kinetics and multi‐step proton‐coupled electron transfer processes, placing stringent demands on the activity and selectivity of catalysts. Copper (Cu) is one of the few metals capable of efficiently producing C 2+ products through CO 2 RR; yet, its selectivity, overpotential, and stability remain to be improved. Recently, Cu‐based coordination materials, with unique coordination environments and electronic structures, have been discovered to show pronounced advantages in tuning CO 2 RR performance. By leveraging the coordination interaction between Cu sites and ligands, the geometric configuration and the electronic structure of Cu active sites can be finely manipulated. Hence, these materials contribute toward optimizing the catalytic kinetics of critical C 1 /C 2 intermediates, thereby promoting CO 2 RR performance. This review summarizes the recent advances of Cu‐based coordination catalysts in CO 2 electroreduction into C 2+ products. First, this review elucidates the reaction kinetics of electrocatalytic CO 2 RR into various C 2+ products. Moreover, the design strategies and the catalytic mechanism of various Cu coordination materials for CO 2 RR are introduced in detail. Special emphasis is placed on how catalysts regulate the reaction kinetics and promote the catalytic activity and selectivity of C 2+ product formation. Finally, the current challenges and future prospects of Cu‐based coordination catalysts for CO 2 RR are discussed, providing theoretical guidance for their future development.