1577253-20-3Relevant academic research and scientific papers
Ruthenium-catalyzed reduction of carbon dioxide to formaldehyde
Bontemps, Sébastien,Vendier, Laure,Sabo-Etienne, Sylviane
supporting information, p. 4419 - 4425 (2014/04/03)
Functionalization of CO2 is a challenging goal and precedents exist for the generation of HCOOH, CO, CH3OH, and CH4 in mild conditions. In this series, CH2O, a very reactive molecule, remains an elementary C1 building block to be observed. Herein we report the direct observation of free formaldehyde from the borane reduction of CO2 catalyzed by a polyhydride ruthenium complex. Guided by mechanistic studies, we disclose the selective trapping of formaldehyde by in situ condensation with a primary amine into the corresponding imine in very mild conditions. Subsequent hydrolysis into amine and a formalin solution demonstrates for the first time that CO2 can be used as a C 1 feedstock to produce formaldehyde.
