Two major energy-related problems confront the world in the
next 50 years. First, increased worldwide competition for
gradually depleting fossil fuel reserves (derived from past
photosynthesis) will lead to higher costs, both monetarily and politically. Second, atmospheric CO_2 levels are at their highest recorded level since records began. Further increases are predicted to produce large and uncontrollable impacts on the world climate. These projected impacts extend beyond climate to ocean acidification, because the ocean is a major sink for atmospheric CO2.1 Providing a future energy supply that is secure and CO_2-neutral will require switching to nonfossil energy sources such as wind, solar, nuclear, and geothermal energy and developing methods for transforming the energy produced by these new sources into forms that can be stored, transported, and used upon demand.

Frontiers, Opportunities, and Challenges in Biochemical and Chemical Catalysis of CO2 Fixation

Carbon dioxide exits in the atmosphere and is produced by the combustion of fossil fuels, the fermentation of sugars and the respiration of all living organisms. An active goal in organic synthesis is to take this carbon--trapped in a waste product--and re-use it to build useful chemicals. Recent advances in organometallic chemistry and catalysis provide effective means for the chemical transformation of CO₂ and its incorporation into synthetic organic molecules under mild conditions. Such a use of carbon dioxide as a renewable one-carbon (C1) building block in organic synthesis could contribute to a more sustainable use of resources.

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Using carbon dioxide as a building block in organic synthesis

Photoreduction of CO2 into sustainable and green solar fuels is generally believed to be an appealing solution to simultaneously overcome both environmental problems and energy crisis. The low selectivity of challenging multi-electron CO2 photoreduction reactions makes it one of the holy grails in heterogeneous photocatalysis. This Review highlights the important roles of cocatalysts in selective photocatalytic CO2 reduction into solar fuels using semiconductor catalysts. A special emphasis in this review is placed on the key role, design considerations and modification strategies of cocatalysts for CO2 photoreduction. Various cocatalysts, such as the biomimetic, metal-based, metal-free, and multifunctional ones, and their selectivity for CO2 photoreduction are summarized and discussed, along with the recent advances in this area. This Review provides useful information for the design of highly selective cocatalysts for photo(electro)reduction and electroreduction of CO2 and complements the existing reviews on various semiconductor photocatalysts.

Cocatalysts for Selective Photoreduction of CO2 into Solar Fuels.

Iron Catalysis in Organic Synthesis

Recent Advances in Polyoxometalate-Catalyzed Reactions

A highly active iron catalyst for the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide and bicarbonates works under remarkably low pressures and achieves activities similar to some of the best noble metal catalysts. A mechanism is proposed involving the direct attack of an iron trans-dihydride on carbon dioxide, followed by ligand exchange and dihydrogen coordination.

Low-Pressure Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide Catalyzed by an Iron Pincer Complex Exhibiting Noble Metal Activity

Iron Pincer Complex Catalyzed, Environmentally Benign, E‐Selective Semi‐Hydrogenation of Alkynes

A phenanthroline ligand decorated at the 5,6-position with a 15-crown-5 ether was used to prepare a metalorganic-polyoxometalate hybrid complex Re(I)(L)(CO)(3)CH(3)CN-MHPW(12)O(40) (L = 15-crown-5-phenanthroline, M = Na(+), H(3)O(+)). X-ray diffraction, (1)H and (13)C NMR, ESI-MS, IR, and elemental analysis were used to characterize this complex. In the presence of Pt/C, the polyoxometalate moiety in Re(I)(L)(CO)(3)CH(3)CN-MHPW(12)O(40) can oxidize H(2) to two protons and two electrons which in the presence of visible light can catalyze the photoreduction of CO(2) to CO with H(2) as the reducing agent instead of the universally used amines as sacrificial reducing agents. An EPR spectrum of a stable intermediate species under reaction conditions shows characteristics of a PW(V)W(VI)(11)O(40) and a Re(0) species with a tentative assignment of the intermediate as Re(0)(L)(CO)(3)(S)-MH(3)PW(V)W(VI)(11)O(40).

Photoreduction of Carbon Dioxide to Carbon Monoxide with Hydrogen Catalyzed by a Rhenium(I) Phenanthroline−Polyoxometalate Hybrid Complex

The new, structurally characterized hydrido carbonyl tetrahydridoborate iron pincer complex [(iPr-PNP)Fe(H)(CO)(η(1)-BH(4))] (1) catalyzes the base-free hydrogenation of ketones to their corresponding alcohols employing only 4.1 atm hydrogen pressure. Turnover numbers up to 1980 at complete conversion of ketone were reached with this system. Treatment of 1 with aniline (as a BH(3) scavenger) resulted in a mixture of trans-[(iPr-PNP)Fe(H)(2)(CO)] (4a) and cis-[(iPr-PNP)Fe(H)(2)(CO)] (4b). The dihydrido complexes 4a and 4b do not react with acetophenone or benzaldehyde, indicating that these complexes are not intermediates in the catalytic reduction of ketones. NMR studies indicate that the tetrahydridoborate ligand in 1 dissociates prior to ketone reduction. DFT calculations show that the mechanism of the iron-catalyzed hydrogenation of ketones involves alcohol-assisted aromatization of the dearomatized complex [(iPr-PNP*)Fe(H)(CO)] (7) to initially give the Fe(0) complex [(iPr-PNP)Fe(CO)] (21) and subsequently [(iPr-PNP)Fe(CO)(EtOH)] (38). Concerted coordination of acetophenone and dual hydrogen-atom transfer from the PNP arm and the coordinated ethanol to, respectively, the carbonyl carbon and oxygen atoms, leads to the dearomatized complex [(iPr-PNP*)Fe(CO)(EtO)(MeCH(OH)Ph)] (32). The catalyst is regenerated by release of 1-phenylethanol, followed by dihydrogen coordination and proton transfer to the coordinated ethoxide ligand.

Iron borohydride pincer complexes for the efficient hydrogenation of ketones under mild, base-free conditions: synthesis and mechanistic insight.

An efficient system catalyzed by a Ru-PNN pincer complex was developed for reforming methanol to H2 and CO2 (absorbed by base) under relatively low temperature (around 100 °C), and good yields of H2 were obtained (∼80%). The catalyst solution can be reused without isolation and purification, with no decrease in catalytic activity being observed for a period of ∼1 month. Decomposition of formic acid, which is likely to be the last step of the methanol reforming reaction, was also investigated, and the formic acid adduct of the catalyst was fully characterized spectroscopically and by X-ray crystallography.

Yael Diskin-Posner

Papers

Low-Pressure Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide Catalyzed by an Iron Pincer Complex Exhibiting Noble Metal Activity

Iron Pincer Complex Catalyzed, Environmentally Benign, E‐Selective Semi‐Hydrogenation of Alkynes

Photoreduction of Carbon Dioxide to Carbon Monoxide with Hydrogen Catalyzed by a Rhenium(I) Phenanthroline−Polyoxometalate Hybrid Complex

Iron borohydride pincer complexes for the efficient hydrogenation of ketones under mild, base-free conditions: synthesis and mechanistic insight.

Reusable Homogeneous Catalytic System for Hydrogen Production from Methanol and Water