Iron‐Rich Natural Mineral Gibeon Meteorite Catalyzed N‐formylation of Amines using CO2 as the C1 Source

Abstract

AbstractN‐formylated amines (formamides) are important intermediates and the development of efficient and sustainable N‐formylation reactions have attracted considerable attention. Here, we demonstrate that an iron‐rich Gibeon meteorite is an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for this reaction employing carbon dioxide as the source of the formyl CO group. The Gibeon meteorite catalyst is stable, reusable, and affords a wide range of formamides with outstanding chemoselectivity (near‐quantitative yields) under mild conditions (1 – 10 bar CO2 and 25oC). A tentative mechanistic cycle has been proposed for the reaction. This work demonstrates the effectiveness of natural materials as catalysts and how they can be used to inspire the development of synthetic catalysts.