Highly productive CO2 hydrogenation to methanol - a tandem catalytic approach via amide intermediates

A new system for CO2 reduction to methanol has been demonstrated using homogeneous ruthenium catalysts with a range of amine auxiliaries. Modification of this amine has a profound effect on the yield and selectivity of the reaction. A TON of 8900 and TOF of 4500 h(-1) is achieved using a [RuCl2(Ph(2)PCH(2)CH(2)NHnMe)(2)] catalyst with a diisopropylamine auxiliary.