C0$_2$ and formic acid, a winning couple in reduction chemistry

Thibault Cantat (1)

1 LCMCE - Laboratoire de Chimie Moléculaire et de Catalyse pour l'Energie (ex LCCEF)

Because it is abundant, inexpensive, low-toxic and renewable, CO$_2$ is an attractive carbon feedstock and its conversion has motivated recent efforts both in the academia and in the industry. Nonetheless, major advances are still hampered by the kinetic inertness of CO$_2$ and efficient catalysts are still to be needed to promote the reduction of CO$_2$ to reduced products, such as methanol. We have recently shown that formic acid (HCOOH), obtained from the 2-electron reduction of CO$_2$, can serve as an efficient C-H bond shuttle and reductant in the reduction of CO$_2$ to methanol. Using ruthenium(ll) complexes, supported by a triphosphine ligand, formic acid can undergo a disproportionation reaction to methanol in high yields. In the presence of chlorosilanes, the same catalytic system is able to facilitate the reduction of aldehydes and CO$_2$, exemplifying the role of formoxysilane in transfer hydrosilylation chemistry for the first time.

Domains: Material chemistry

Thibault Cantat. C0$_2$ and formic acid, a winning couple in reduction chemistry. 253rd ACS meeting, Apr 2017, San Francisco, United States. ⟨cea-02341704⟩