Nickel catalyst couples alcohols and carbon dioxide

0717CW - Organic Matter - Figure 2

Flexibility and low cost make nickel a firm favourite in catalysis

Maybe I shouldn’t have favourites, but I do. My favourites change over time without question – as one gets better at something that’s important to me, or another evolves capability from potential. But in the last five years, despite fantastic advances across the board from cobalt to manganese to iron, when it comes to base metal catalysis, nickel trumps them all.