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Title: Tandem copper hydride–Lewis pair catalysed reduction of carbon dioxide into formate with dihydrogen

Journal Article · · Nature Catalysis

The reduction of CO2 into formic acid or its conjugate base, using dihydrogen, is an attractive process. While catalysts based on noble metals have shown high turnover numbers, the use of abundant first-row metals is underdeveloped. The key steps of the reaction are CO2 insertion into a metal hydride and regeneration of the metal hydride with H2, along with the concomitant production of formate. For the first step, copper is known as one of the most efficient metals, as shown by the numerous copper-catalysed carboxylation reactions, but this metal has difficulties activating H2 to achieve the second step. In this work, we report a catalytic system involving a stable copper hydride that activates CO2, working in tandem with a Lewis pair that heterolytically splits H2. In this system, unprecedented turnover numbers for copper are obtained. Surprisingly, through a combination of stoichiometric and catalytic reactions, we show that classical Lewis pairs outperform frustrated Lewis pairs in this process.

Research Organization:
Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES); Solvay Inc., Brussels (Belgium); National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0009376; 21676134; 21576129
OSTI ID:
1594482
Journal Information:
Nature Catalysis, Vol. 1, Issue 10; ISSN 2520-1158
Publisher:
Springer NatureCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 69 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (11)

Hydrogenation of CO 2 to Formate with H 2 : Transition Metal Free Catalyst Based on a Lewis Pair journal November 2018
Facially Dispersed Polyhydride Cu 9 and Cu 16 Clusters Comprising Apex‐Truncated Supertetrahedral and Square‐Face‐Capped Cuboctahedral Copper Frameworks journal December 2019
Hydrogenation of CO 2 to Formate with H 2 : Transition Metal Free Catalyst Based on a Lewis Pair journal November 2018
Mechanistic Studies on the Insertion of Carbonyl Substrates into Cu‐H: Different Rate‐Limiting Steps as a Function of Electrophilicity journal March 2020
Release of Formic Acid from Copper Formate: Hydride, Proton‐Coupled Electron and Hydrogen Atom Transfer All Play their Role journal April 2019
Copper hydride clusters in energy storage and conversion journal January 2019
Metal-free imidazolium hydrogen carbonate ionic liquids as bifunctional catalysts for the one-pot synthesis of cyclic carbonates from olefins and CO 2 journal January 2019
CO2 Capture and in situ Catalytic Transformation journal July 2019
Hydrogenation of CO 2 to Formate with H 2 : Transition Metal Free Catalyst Based on a Lewis Pair journal December 2018
Mechanistic Studies on the Insertion of Carbonyl Substrates into Cu‐H: Different Rate‐Limiting Steps as a Function of Electrophilicity journal March 2020
Facially Dispersed Polyhydride Cu 9 and Cu 16 Clusters Comprising Apex‐Truncated Supertetrahedral and Square‐Face‐Capped Cuboctahedral Copper Frameworks journal February 2020