State-of-the-Art Light-Driven Hydrogen Generation from Formic Acid and Utilization in Enzymatic Hydrogenations

A concept of combining photocatalytically generated hydrogen with green enzymatic reductions is demonstrated. The developed photocatalytic formic acid (FA) dehydrogenation setup based on Pt(x)@TiO₂ shows stable hydrogen generation activity, which is two orders of magnitude higher than reported values of state-of-the-art systems. Mechanistic studies confirm that hydrogen generation proceeds via a photocatalytic pathway, which is entirely different from purely thermal reaction mechanisms previously reported. The viability of the presented approach is demonstrated by the synthesis of value-added compounds 3-phenylpropanal and (2R, 5S)-dihydrocarvone at ambient pressure and room temperature, which should be applicable for many other hydrogenation processes, e. g., for the preparation of flavours and fragrance compounds, as well as pharmaceuticals.