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In this paper the synthesis and characterisation of ruthenium dihydrogen complexes bearing rigid aliphatic PNP pincer-type ligands are described. As one result hydride complexes were synthesised in good to high yields by a one-pot direct hydrogenation reaction. As another finding the dihydrogen complex, stabilised with a N-Me group in the ligand frame, can be converted with dimethylamine borane into a rare σ-boron complex [RuH2(BH3)(Me-PNP)] with rapid B-N decoupling. Additionally, we present the first mass spectrometric analysis of the synthesised σ-complexes via liquid injection field desorption/ionisation technique (LIFDI-MS).

In this work, we present a mild method for direct conversion of primary alcohols into carboxylic acids with the use of water as an oxygen source. Applying a ruthenium dihydrogen based dehydrogenation catalyst for this cause, we investigated the effect of water on the catalytic dehydrogenation process of alcohols. Using 1 mol% of the catalyst we report up to high yields. Moreover, we isolated key intermediates which most likely play a role in the catalytic cycle. One of the intermediates was identified as a trans dihydrido carbonyl complex which is generated in situ in the catalytic process.

With the increased efforts in finding new energy storage systems for mobile and stationary applications, an intensively studied fuel molecule is dihydrogen owing to its energy content, and the possibility to store it in the form of hydridic and protic hydrogen, for example, in liquid organic hydrogen carriers. Here we show that water in the presence of paraformaldehyde or formaldehyde is suitable for molecular hydrogen storage, as these molecules form stable methanediol, which can be easily and selectively dehydrogenated forming hydrogen and carbon dioxide. In this system, both molecules are hydrogen sources, yielding a theoretical weight efficiency of 8.4% assuming one equivalent of water and one equivalent of formaldehyde. Thus it is potentially higher than formic acid (4.4 wt%), as even when technical aqueous formaldehyde (37 wt%) is used, the diluted methanediol solution has an efficiency of 5.0 wt%. The hydrogen can be efficiently generated in the presence of air using a ruthenium catalyst at low temperature.