Work

Organoboron catalysts: From structural design to functional application in CO2 conversions

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), which is closely associated with global warming and climate change, also represents a highly valuable C1 resource for its remarkable features such as natural abundance, easy availability, and renewability. As a thermodynamically stable molecule, CO 2 demands high energy for activation and chemical conversion. Although metal complexes have demonstrated remarkable catalytic performance in homogeneous systems for CO 2 hydrogenations, carboxylation reactions, and carbonate formation reactions, they are associated with limitations such as product coloration, inherent toxicity, and complicated preparation process. Metal-free organoboron catalysts offer an effective solution to these limitations, providing a safer and more efficient alternative for catalyzing CO 2 conversion reactions. This review summarizes recent advances in organoboron catalysts, focusing on their structural diversity-including intermolecular/binary systems, intramolecular/bifunctional configurations and polymeric architectures-along with their corresponding synthetic strategies. After fully discussing the structural types of catalysts and the CO 2 activation mechanisms, the applications of organoboron catalysts are explored in two directions, including the CO 2 reduction reactions (CO 2 RRs) and the carbonate formation reactions. Notably, comparative evaluation reveals that the organoboron catalysts applied in CO 2 RRs, particularly intermolecular and intramolecular frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs), despite differences in the acidity of the organoboron and its substituent groups, have been demonstrated to be effective in catalyzing the coupling or copolymerization of CO 2 and epoxides. This cross-reaction applicability of organoborons establishes valuable precedents for innovating novel CO 2 conversion pathways.

Source: Journal of CO2 Utilization

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcou.2025.103212

Authors: Rui Qu, Wei Xie, Wei Wei, Hongyi Suo, Yusheng Qin

Institution: Yantai University

Language: English

Topic: Carbon dioxide utilization in catalysis

Subfield: Process Chemistry and Technology

Field: Chemical Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Climate action

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,360