Fluoride Catalysts and Organic Additives for Conversion of CO₂ to Formic Acid and Methanol using Powdered Silicon as Reducing Agent

Abstract

The effect of fluoride catalysts and organoboronic acid additives on the reduction of CO 2 using waste silicon wafer powder as a reducing agent was investigated. Compared to other fluorides containing monovalent cations, tetraalkylammonium fluorides show higher catalytic activity for the conversion of CO 2 to formic acid. Arylboronic acid containing electron-withdrawing groups such as p-fluorophenylboronic acid facilitated methanol formation during CO 2 reduction. Electrophilic activation of formic acid by arylboronic acid may promote the reduction of formic acid to methanol.

CO2 conversion to formamide using a fluoride catalyst and metallic silicon as a reducing agent

“…1. Our group and others have previously reported the reduction of CO 2 to formic acid and methanol using powdered silicon as a reducing agent [29][30][31][32][33][34] . However, the detailed fluoride catalysis for not only reductive functionaization of CO 2 for the application of chemical synthesis but also the behavior of fluoride at both surface and interior of Si powder are still unknown.…”