CO2 hydroboration: from understanding to complex transformations

Carbon dioxide is a very abundant molecule that is used as carbon source by plants to build biomass.1 It would be a sustainable resource for our carbon-based societies if we could emulate nature in transforming CO2 into complex chemicals under mild conditions.2However, we are lacking fundamental knowledge on the activation of this small molecule.6 years ago, we started to study the hydroboration of CO2 with ruthenium polyhydridecomplexes. I will present our journey from the fundamental understanding of such process3to the disclosure of more complex transformations of CO2 under mild conditions and withearth abundant catalysts.4

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2. Goeppert, A.; Czaun, M.; Jones, J.-P.; Surya Prakash, G. K.; Olah, G. A., Chem. Soc. Rev. 2014, 43, 7995-8048.

3. (a) Bontemps, S.; Vendier, L.; Sabo-Etienne, S., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 4419-4425; (b) Bontemps, S.; Sabo-Etienne, S., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2013, 52, 10253-10255; (c) Bontemps, S.; Vendier, L.; Sabo-Etienne, S., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2012, 51, 1671-1674.

4. Jin, G.; Werncke, C. G.; Escudié, Y.; Sabo-Etienne, S.; Bontemps, S., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2015, 137 9563–9566.