Copper hydride complexes have been used extensively for the catalytic reduction of a variety of molecules. Copper hydrides have also long been known to react stoichiometrically with CO2, however, the challenge has been regenerating the copper hydrides using hydrogen as the source of the reducing equivalents. Starting from a triphosphine complex of Cu(I), a copper hydride complex has been isolated using hydrogen and an organic base. Under catalytic conditions with a 1:1 mixture H2 and CO2, the highest catalytic rates are observing using the bicyclic base DBU. From Operando spectroscopy and mechanistic studies, the base plays an essential role through binding to the copper complex. Addition of hydrogen to this base-adduct is the limiting step under catalytic conditions, and therefore this step has been the focus of mechanistic studies of this catalyst system.

Hydrogenation of CO2 using copper hydride complexes

254th National Meeting (2017)

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