title: Tandem amine and ruthenium-catalyzed hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol.
abstract: This Communication describes the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to methanol via tandem catalysis with dimethylamine and a homogeneous ruthenium complex. Unlike previous examples with homogeneous catalysts, this CO2-to-CH3OH process proceeds under basic reaction conditions. The dimethylamine is proposed to play a dual role in this system. It reacts directly with CO2 to produce dimethylammonium dimethylcarbamate, and it also intercepts the intermediate formic acid to generate dimethylformamide. With the appropriate selection of catalyst and reaction conditions, >95% conversion of CO2 was achieved to form a mixture of CH3OH and dimethylformamide.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan , 930 North University Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, United States.
authors.forename: Nomaan M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Rezayee
authors.forename: Chelsea A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Huff
authors.forename: Melanie S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Sanford