Solvent effects on high-pressure hydrogen gas generation by dehydrogenation of formic acid using ruthenium complexes

Abstract

High-pressure H2 was produced by the selective dehydrogenation of formic acid (DFA) using ruthenium complexes at mild temperatures in various organic solvents and water. Among the solvents studied, 1,4-dioxane was the best candidate for this reaction to generate high gas pressure of 20 MPa at 80 °C using the Ru complex having a dearomatized pyridine-based pincer PN3P* ligand. This complex shows reusability for the high-pressure DFA in 1,4-dioxiane while maintaining the catalytic performance, however, deactivation occurred in other solvents. In dimethyl sulfoxide, its decomposition products may cause catalytic deactivation. The gas pressure generated in 1,4-dioxane was lower than that in water due to the high dissolution of 1,4-dioxane into CO2 according the vapor-liquid equilibrium calculations. The role of solvent is crucial since it affected the catalytic performance and also the generated gas pressure (H2 and CO2) from FA.