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HEIndividual fellowship2023–2025

NiCO2Cat · Cooperative Nickel Catalysts for CO2 Hydrogenation to Value-Added Products

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2023-09-01 → 2025-08-31
EU contribution
€203,464
Participants
1
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

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Results in brief

Cooperative Nickel Catalysts for CO2 Hydrogenation to Value-Added Products

Catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 using H2 produced with renewable energy is a promising approach for the sustainable production of value-added chemicals such as formic acid or methanol. Moreover, the related catalytic hydrogenation of carbonyl compounds (compounds that contain a C=O double bond) is a ubiquitous transformation in the synthesis of fine chemicals including medicines, flavors, agrochemicals. Molecular catalysts based on transition metals have demonstrated potential for selective CO2 and carbonyl hydrogenation reactions. However, the most efficient catalysts are often based on scarce metals such as ruthenium. The proposed research aimed at the development of an efficient, cost-effective, potentially scalable nickel-based catalytic system for CO2 and carbonyl reduction with molecular hydrogen. If focused on the development of so-called nickel/olefin pincer complexes, which had recently been shown by the host group to activate H2 via a new cooperative mechanism. Objectives included 1) the synthesis of new catalysts, 2) a study of their reactivity with H2 3) Characterisation of their catalytic activity for hydrogenation, and 4) a study of the mechanism of action of the new catalysts by computational and experimental methods.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

Catalytic hydrogenation of CO2 using H2 produced with renewable energy is a promising approach for the sustainable production of value-added chemicals such as formic acid or methanol. Molecular catalysts based on transition metals have demonstrated potential for selective CO2 hydrogenation reactions. However, most efficient catalysts for methanol production are based on scarce metals such as ruthenium. The proposed research aims towards the development of an efficient, cost-effective, potentially scalable nickel-based catalytic system for CO2 reduction with molecular hydrogen to produce industrially relevant compounds such as formic acid/methanol. To this end, I will develop nickel/olefin pincer complexes, which have recently been shown to activate H2 via a new cooperative mechanism and are therefore strong candidates for CO2 hydrogenation. The new complexes will be evaluated for their catalytic performance by using various instrumentation techniques. Experiments supported by theoretical DFT calculations will shed light on the mechanism of the reaction. A successful project will afford both new, efficient catalysts for CO2 hydrogenation based on the earth-abundant element nickel and mechanistic understanding to guide further developments on the longer term.

Original text from CORDIS.

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Data: CORDIS, © European Union