Further Observations on the Mechanism of Formic Acid Decomposition by Homogeneous Ruthenium Catalyst

Abstract

Formic acid is well known as a hydrogen source and a hydrogen donor under thermal, catalytic and photocatalytic conditions. In this study, we generate hydrogen and carbon dioxide in a ratio of 1:1 by decomposing formic acid in presence of a homogeneous ruthenium catalysis under mild conditions. At 40oC TOF>600 h−1 was realized. The catalyst is stable and robust through numerous cycles of the decomposition reaction. Furthermore, maintaining the active catalyst system under ambient conditions for months caused no harm to its vitality. The catalytic activity could be restored instantly at any time simply by adding formic acid and heating to 40oC. Over the years, scientists have suggested different incomplete schemes for the decomposition reaction based on experimental and theoretical studies. In this paper we propose a novel molecular mechanism for this reaction.