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Carbon dioxide capture and utilization is a strategic technology for moving away from fossil-C. The conversion of CO 2 into fuels demands energy and hydrogen that cannot be sourced from fossil-C. Co-processing of CO 2 and water under solar irradiation will have a key role in the long-term for carbon-recycling and energy products production. This article discusses the synthesis, characterization and application of the two-phase composite photocatalyst, In 2 O 3 @g-C 3 N 4 , formed by thermal condensation of melamine in the presence of indium(III)nitrate. The composite exhibits a n,n-heterojunction between two n-type semiconductors, g-C 3 N 4 and In 2 O 3 , leading to a more efficient charge separation. The composite has a flat band potential enabling it to effectively catalyze the reduction of CO 2 in the gas phase to produce CO, CH 4 and CH 3 OH. While the composite's overall photocatalytic efficiency is comparable to that of neat g-C 3 N 4 , its ability to promote multielectron-transfer and Proton Coupled to Electron Transfer (PCET) suggests that there is a potential for further optimization of its properties. The use of labelled 13 CO 2 has allowed us to clearly exclude that the reduced species are derived from the photocatalyst decomposition or the degradation of contaminants., (© 2024 The Authors. ChemSusChem published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The sustainable chemical industry encompasses a shift from the use of fossil carbon to renewable carbon. The synthesis of chemicals from nonedible biomass (cellulosic or oil) represents one of the key steps for "greening" the chemical industry. In this paper, we report the aerobic oxidative cleavage of C6 polyols (5-HMF, glucose, fructose and sucrose) to oxalic acid (OA) and succinic acid (SA) in water under mild conditions using M@CNT and M@NCNT (M=Fe, V; CNT=carbon nanotubes; NCNT=N-doped CNT), which, under suitable conditions, were recoverable and reusable without any loss of efficiency. The influence of the temperature, O 2 pressure (PO2 ), reaction time and stirring rate are discussed and the best reaction conditions are determined for an almost complete conversion of the starting material and a good OA yield of 48 %. SA and formic acid were the only co-products. The former could be further converted into OA by oxidation in the presence of formic acid, resulting in an overall OA yield of >62 %. This process was clean and did not produce organic waste nor gas emissions., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Fe 0 (bpy)(pyea) (2; bpy=2,2'-bipyridine, pyea=2-aminoethyl-pyridine), a 16-electron species, was synthesized by reduction of FeCl 2 (bpy)(pyea) (1) using Na-strips. It is a diamagnetic low-melting solid (m.p. 295 K) stable under N 2 and easily decomposed by radiations even at low temperature. It was fully characterized by elemental analyses and multinuclear NMR. Complex 2 acts as an active hydrogenation catalyst, but has a very short lifetime. In fact, it reacts with H 2 (0.1-1 MPa) at room temperature in toluene and affords in a few minutes a new Fe 0 complex characterized as Fe 0 (bpy)(η 6 -picoline) (3), inactive to hydrogenation. Picoline is derived from the sp 3 -sp 3 C-C bond cleavage of the aminoethyl arm of the pyea ligand. The rapid evolution of the putative intermediate FeH 2 (bpy)(pyea) (4) has not allowed the isolation such Fe-hydrido species. The interaction of H 2 with 2 has been studied by DFT, which has allowed to demonstrate that 3 is lower in energy than 2+H 2 , justifying the fact that the intermediate dihydride was not isolated. Interestingly, 3 was also obtained by reaction of 1 with NaBH 4 or with glycerol-KOH. Complex 2 is one of the rare examples of Fe 0 complex stabilized by a set of only N-donor atoms. The reaction with glycerol confirms the potential role of Fe in catalytic hydrogenation reactions using bio-glycerol as a H-source., (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A p-type semiconductor, CuI, has been synthesized, characterized, and tested as a photocatalyst for CO 2 reduction under UV/Vis irradiation in presence of isopropanol as a hole scavenger. Formation of CO, CH 4 , and/or HCOOH was observed. The photocatalytic activity of CuI was attributed to the very low potential of the conduction band edge (i.e., -2.28 V vs. NHE). Photocurrents generated by the studied material confirm a high efficiency of the photoinduced interfacial electrontransfer processes. Our studies show that p-type semiconductors may be effective photocatalysts for CO 2 reduction, even better than extensively studied n-type titanium dioxide, owing to the low potential of the conduction band edge., (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A simple, cheap, and selective catalyst based on copper/cerium oxides is described for the oxidation of 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (5-HMF) in water. An almost quantitative conversion (99 %) with excellent (90 %) selectivity towards the formation of 5-formyl-2-furancarboxylic acid, a platform molecule for other high value chemicals, is observed. The catalyst does not require any pretreatment or additives, such as bases, to obtain high yield and selectivity in water as solvent and using oxygen as oxidant. When a physical mixture of the oxides is used, low conversion and selectivity are observed. Air can be used instead of oxygen, but a lower conversion rate is observed if the same overall pressure is used, and the selectivity remains high. The catalyst can be recovered almost quantitatively and reused. Deactivation of the catalyst, observed in repeated runs, is due to the deposition of humins on its surface. Upon calcination the catalyst almost completely recovers its activity and selectivity, proving that the catalyst is robust., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

We describe a process for the selective conversion of C6 -polyols into 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) in biphasic systems of organic carbonate/water (OC/W), with cerium(IV) phosphates as catalysts. Different reaction parameters such as the OC/W ratio, catalyst loading, reaction time, and temperature, were investigated for the dehydration of fructose. Under the best reaction conditions, a yield of 67.7 % with a selectivity of 93.2 % was achieved at 423 K after 6 h of reaction using [(Ce(PO4)1.5 (H2 O)(H3 O)0.5 (H2 O)0.5)] as the catalyst. A maximum yield of 70 % with the same selectivity was achieved after 12 h. At the end of the reaction, the catalyst was removed by centrifugation, the organic phase was separated from water and evaporated in vacuo (with solvent recovery), and solid 5-HMF was isolated (purity >99 %). The recovery and reuse of the catalyst and the relationship between the structure of the OC and the efficiency of the extraction are discussed. The OC/W system influences the lifetime of the catalysts positively compared to only water., (© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Diphenyl carbonate (DPC) plays a key role in phosgene-free carbonylation processes. It can be produced by transesterification of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) with phenol in the presence of catalysts. Methyl phenyl carbonate (MPC) is first produced that is then converted into DPC by either disproportionation or further transesterification with phenol. Cerium-based bimetallic oxides (with the heterometal being niobium, iron, palladium, or aluminum) are used as catalysts in the transesterification of DMC to synthesize MPC. The catalytic activity is affected by the type and concentration of the heterometal. XPS, IR and elementary analyses are employed to characterize the new catalysts. Differently from pure oxides, the mixed oxides produce a significant increase of the conversion and selectivity towards MPC., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Oxazolidinones have been synthesized by reacting glycerol carbonate or glycerol with urea in the presence of γ-Zr phosphate as a catalyst. The conversion yield of the polyol or its carbonate depends on the temperature. Below 408 K the selectivity is 100 % with a conversion of up to 25 %, whereas increasing the temperature means that conversion yield grows, but the selectivity decreases, which makes the separation process more difficult. Starting from glycerol carbonate, two isomers, 6 and 6', are formed with a quasi 1:1 molar ratio because urea can attack the carbonate moiety on both sides of the carboxylic CO moiety. From glycerol the formation of the 6' isomer is preferred: the ratio of 6'/6 is close to 7. The oxazolidinones formed act as templates because they interact through hydrogen bonding with glycerol. The intensity of the interaction depends on the 6 or 6' isomer: DFT calculations showed that the energy was 22.6 kcal mol(-1) for 6-oxazolidinone and 25.7 kcal mol(-1) for 6'-oxazolidinone., (Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

New catalytic systems based on ceria have been used in the direct carboxylation of ethanol. The catalytic behavior of Al(2)O(3) and Nb(2)O(5) loaded ceria is compared, the latter showing a better performance. A morphological and structural study has been carried out on Nb(2)O(5)/CeO(2) catalysts in order to explain their behavior in catalysis. Pervaporation membranes have been used for water separation. The synthesis of diethylcarbonate (DEC) has been carried out either in a liquid phase (ethanol) pressurized with CO(2) or in supercritical conditions. A set-up has been developed that allows the production of quite pure DEC (>90%) with recycling of CO(2) and ethanol., (Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Aqueous glycerol was used as the hydrogen source for the reduction of CO(2) to the hydrogen carrier formic acid in the presence of the catalyst [RuCl(2)(PPh(3))(3)]. All intermediates were identified and characterized. Glycerol was converted into glycolic acid, HO-CH(2)-COOH, that was identified by using (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopy., (Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The development of a new synthetic approach to acrylates based on the formation of alkyl esters of acrylic acids has been studied. A preformed Pd-COOMe moiety is used as a model system to investigate the insertion of an olefin into the Pd--C bond. The fast elimination of acrylate is observed. Density functional calculations support the experimental findings and allow the characterization of transition states along the reaction pathway. The first example of olefin/CO(2) coupling with facile release of ethyl acrylate is also presented.

The synthesis, characterization and properties of [PdH(dppe)(2)](+)CF(3)SO(3) (-).0.125 THF (1; dppe=1,2-bis(diphenylphosphanyl)ethane) and its SbF(6) (-) (1') and BF(4) (-) (1") analogues, the missing members of the [MH(dppe)(2)](+)X(-) (M=Ni, Pd, Pt) family, are described. The Pd hydrides are not stable in solution and can react as proton or hydride donors with formation of dihydrogen, [Pd(dppe)(2)](2+) and [Pd(dppe)(2)]. Complexes 1-1" react with carbocations and carbanions by transferring a hydride and a proton, respectively. Such H(-) or H(+) transfer occurs also towards unsaturated compounds, for example, hydrogenation of a C=C double bond. Accordingly, 1 can hydrogenate methyl acrylate to methyl propionate. Complex 1" is an effective (hourly turnover frequency=16) and very selective (100 %) catalyst for the hydrogenation of cyclohexen-2-one to cyclohexanone with dihydrogen under mild conditions. Density functional calculations coupled with a dielectric continuum model were carried out to compute the energetics of the hydride/proton transfer reactions, which were used to rationalize some of the experimental findings. Theory provides strong support for the thermodynamic and kinetic viability of a tetracoordinate Pd complex as an intermediate in the reactions.

Mixed anhydrides of carbonic acid with phosphonic or carbamic acid, are mimic of relevant biological systems, and behave as key intermediates in trans-esterification processes that afford carbamates of industrial interest. They are formed in the phosphonic acids mediated or direct transesterification reaction of organic carbonates with amines to afford carbamates and have been isolated and characterised in the solid state and solution. Their conversion into the products has been demonstrated to occur with high regioselectivity. The application of such intermediates in some synthetic processes is discussed.