Co-catalytic Effect of Functionalized SiO2 Materials on H2 Production from Formic Acid by an Iron Catalyst

Abstract

ABSTRACTSurface modified L@SiO2 particles bearing covalently attached functional groups (L) have been tested as co-catalysts for H2 production from Formic Acid (FA) by the homogenous FeII/P(CH2CH2PPh2)3 catalyst. The L@SiO2 particles induce remarkable increase of catalytic H2 production i.e. by 710 %, when L=a basic functionality such as Imidazoles, or NH2-groups. This effect is attributed to a thermodynamic promotion of FA deprotonation facilitating coordination of HCOO- anion on the FeII atom of active catalyst during catalysis.