The world’s demand for alternative fuels and sustainable chemical products has prompted many scientists to look in the same direction for answers: converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into carbon monoxide (CO).

But the labs of Yale chemists Nilay Hazari and James Mayer have a different chemical destination in mind. In a new study, Hazari, Mayer, and their collaborators present a new method for transforming CO2 into a chemical compound known as formate — which is used primarily in preservatives and pesticides, and which may be a potential source of more complex materials.