Carbon dioxide hydrogenation to formic acid by using a heterogeneous gold catalyst.

AUROlite, consisting of gold supported on titania (picture shows extrudates in a steel net cage), is a robust catalyst for the production of catalyst-free HCOOH/NEt(3) adducts from H(2), CO(2), and neat NEt(3). Pure HCOOH is freed from the adducts by amine exchange.

Aerobic, copper-mediated oxidation of alkaline formaldehyde to fuel-cell grade hydrogen and formate: mechanism and applications.

Beyond nanopowders: Hydrogen and formate are produced through the oxidation of alkaline HCHO by CuO microparticles. The Cu microparticles formed in the purely electrochemical reduction of CuO preserve the morphology of CuO (left-hand image: CuO; right-hand image: Cu formed in the reduction of CuO by alkaline HCHO) and can be permeated by a gas. They react more efficiently than Cu nanoparticles with air to restore CuO.

Ethene hydroformylation with CO/H2O: nucleophilic attack by water on to a terminal CO of a Ru(II) acylcarbonyl complex.

The reaction with water of acyldicarbonyl-Ru(II) complexes relevant to ruthenium catalysed ethene hydrocarbonylation with CO/H2O is shown to consist of a nucleophilic attack and to proceed via coordination of propionate and CO to the Ru(II) species.

The acylation of an acyl complex resulting in a labile OCO tridentate ligand.

The reaction of propionic anhydride with [fac-Ru(C(O)Et)-(CO)2(H2O)3][CF3SO3] produces a new propylidin dipropionato group, which behaves as a tridentate ligand giving the neutral complex Ru(CEt(OC(O)Et)2)(CO)2(CF3SO3).

Aqueous Organometallic Chemistry of Ruthenium(II). Aquo Carbonyl Derivatives and Related Ethene Hydrocarboxylation in Fully Aqueous Solvent.

A series of new water soluble and stable organometallic compounds is reported, and the peculiar role of water in their formation and stabilization is documented together with their catalytic properties in aqueous solution. The complex fac-Ru(OCOCF(3))(2)(CO)(3)(H(2)O) (1) constitutes the entry to a new type of aqueous organometallic chemistry. The substitution of trifluoroacetato ligands by H(2)O yields [fac-Ru(CO)(3)(H(2)O)(3)](2+) (2), isolated as the tetrafluoroborate derivative, the first structurally characterized complex bearing CO and H(2)O ligands only. In water, 2 undergoes nucleophilic attack by the solvent yielding [fac-Ru(COOH)(CO)(2)(H(2)O)(3)](+) (3), followed by CO(2) elimination to give [fac-RuH(CO)(2)(H(2)O)(3)](+) (4), a ruthenium(II) hydride devoid of group-15-donor coligands and stable toward strong acids. 4 inserts ethene in water to give [fac-Ru(C(2)H(5))(CO)(2)(H(2)O)(3)](+) (5), an exceptionally inert alkyl complex which inserts CO yielding [fac-Ru(C(O)C(2)H(5))(CO)(2)(H(2)O)(3)](+) (6). Attempts to isolate the mononuclear cationic acyl complex gave the tetranuclear Ru(4)(C(O)C(2)H(5))(4)(OH)(2)(CF(3)SO(3))(2)(CO)(8) (7). At 140 degrees C the mononuclear organometallic complexes become labile intermediates of a Reppe hydrocarboxylation of ethene in fully aqueous solvent.

Ru(3)(CO)(12) in Acidic Media. Intermediates of the Acid-Cocatalyzed Water-Gas Shift Reaction (WGSR).

The elucidation of the WGSR promoted by ruthenium carbonyls in acidic media started with the detection of the Ru(0), Ru(I), and Ru(II) intermediate complexes, namely Ru(3)(CO)(12), Ru(2)[&mgr;-eta(2)-OC(CF(3))O](2)(CO)(6), and fac-[Ru(CF(3)COO)(3)(CO)(3)](-), which accumulate when CF(3)COOH is employed as an acid cocatalyst. Under catalytic conditions, the three were found to interconvert through elementary steps which produce CO(2) and H(2). In fact, Ru(0) is oxidized by H(+) to Ru(I) and half the hydrogen of the catalytic cycle is supplied by this reaction. On the other hand, Ru(I) disproportionates to Ru(0) and Ru(II), and this latter species undergoes nucleophilic attack by H(2)O. The decomposition of the metallacarboxylic acid intermediate gives back Ru(I), while H(2) and CO(2) are produced in a 1/2 molar ratio. The two alternating pathways for dihydrogen formation, namely Ru(0) oxidation by H(+) and the decomposition of a metallacarboxylic acid intermediate, involve H(2) reductive elimination from the same RuHCF(3)COO(CO)(2)L(2) intermediate (L = H(2)O, ethers). These findings define an acid-cocatalyzed WGSR whose distinctive features are (i) the intervention of a disproportionation reaction to generate a Ru(II) electron poor complex, whose CO ligands can undergo nucleophilic attack by water, (ii) the generation of the hydrido intermediate for dihydrogen production through two distinct reaction patways, and (iii) the reductive elimination of H(2) from the hydrido intermediate without involving H(+) from the medium.