Ru catalyzed hydrogenation of CO2 to formate under basic and acidic conditions

Abstract

The hydrogenation of CO2 to MeOH is pertinent to advance future energy schemes. Towards this end, phosophine-ligated Ru catalysts have been shown to achieve this transformation under either acidic or basic conditions. In this manuscript, we screen catalytic conditions for a novel tris(phosphine) ligand with Ru to see if it can facilitate the conversion of CO2 to MeOH under both acidic and basic conditions. With both sets of conditions, we observe hydrogenation of CO2 to formate. This work shows that the same catalytic system can function under both reaction types but is limited to formate production.