CO2 hydrogenation into formate and methyl formate using Ru molecular catalysts supported on NNN pincer porous organic polymers

Abstract

NNN pincer incorporated porous organic polymers (POPs) were prepared using a facile knitting method of pyridine based ligands via the Friedel-Crafts reaction. Ru-based molecular catalysts supported on the prepared POPs were implemented for catalytic CO2 hydrogenation into formate and methyl formate. In particular, a heterogeneous Ru/N-Me-3-bpp-POP catalyst exhibited the maximum catalytic conversion of CO2 into formate, with a turnover number (TON) of 1877, and into methyl formate with a TON of 2197. In addition, the stability of the Ru/N-Me-3-bpp-POP catalyst was demonstrated over five successive runs with a slight decrease in the catalytic efficiency, which may originate from Ru leaching.