Renewable and Biocompatible Lecithin as an Efficient Organocatalyst for Reductive Conversion of CO2 with Amines to Formamides and Methylamines

Transformation of carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable chemicals is of great importance, and development of novel and efficient catalysts is crucial. Herein, we found that the renewable lecithin could be used as an efficient organocatalyst for the formylation and methylation of various amines with CO2 to corresponding formamides and methylamines via the construction of new C-N bonds using PhSiH3 as the hydrogen source, and satisfactory yields could be obtained. More importantly, the selectivity of the products could be easily controlled by the molar ratio of reactants (i.e., CO2, amines, and PhSiH3) and reaction temperature. In the catalytic cycle, formamides and methylamines were generated by converting the carbon (+4) in CO2 into +2 and -2 via 2-electron and 6-electron reduction pathway, respectively.