Generating hydrogen from formic acid in a catalytic fashion has potential application in alternative energy-related field. In the past, this conversion has been mostly achieved by various precious metal-based catalysts; whereas cheap, abundant non-precious metal-catalyzed formic acid decomposition is exceedingly scarce in the literature. Our group has recently observed that nickel pincer hydride complexes can release H2 catalytically from formic acid at 60 oC. The highest turnover frequency achieved so far is 9500 h-1 when 0.01 mol% catalyst was employed. The envisioned catalytic cycle involves two steps: (a) reaction of nickel hydride with formic acid to release H2 and generate a nickel formate species and (b) regeneration of nickel hydride from the nickel formate using heat (60 oC)

Catalytic release of hydrogen from formic acid using highly efficient nickel pincer complexes

241st National Meeting (2011)

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