Formic acid dehydrogenation catalysed by a novel amino-di(N-heterocyclic carbene) based Ru-CNC pincer complex.

A new Ru(II) complex featuring a novel amino-di(N-heterocyclic carbene) CNC pincer ligand, CNC-RuCl(CO) (Ru-1), has been developed and characterised in depth. Ru-1 forms an efficient and durable catalytic formic acid dehydrogenation system in combination with the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium diethylphosphate (EMIM PO(OEt)).

Cover Feature: Homogeneous Catalyzed Direct Conversion of Furfural to Gamma-Valerolactone (ChemSusChem 11/2024).

Invited for this issue's cover is the group of Martin Nielsen at the Technical University of Denmark. The image shows the chemical components of lignocellulose and the transformation of hemicellulose to GVL via furfural. The Research Article itself is available at 10.

Homogeneous Catalyzed Direct Conversion of Furfural to Gamma-Valerolactone.

Herein, we report the direct conversion of biomass-derived furfural to γ-valerolactone (GVL) in a one-pot system, using the combination of Ru-MACHO-BH and a Brønsted acid (HPO). A GVL yield of 84 % is achieved under mild reaction conditions using 1 mol% of Ru-MACHO-BH and 3.8 M HPO(aq) at 100 °C for 7 hours.