Ruthenium-Based Defective MOFs as Heterogeneous Catalysts for the Hydrogenation of Carbon Dioxide to Formate
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 11, 2026

Heterogeneous Removal of Water-Soluble Ruthenium Olefin Metathesis Catalyst from Aqueous Media Via Host-Guest Interaction
Published on: August 23, 2018
Shuting Li1, Taizong Shen2, Songqi Leng2
1Department of Chemistry, Western University, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada.
Abstract:
The hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to formic acid has attracted considerable interest for carbon utilization and hydrogen storage. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), featuring open coordination sites and tunable pore structures, offer unique advantages for heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, we report the catalytic performance of a series of defect-engineered Ru-MOF catalysts for the hydrogenation of CO2 to formate. The catalysts were synthesized by partially substituting the organic linker with 3,5-pyridinedicarboxylic acid (PYDC) to introduce controllable defect sites. Among the series, the defective Ru-MOF prepared with an optimal PYDC ratio of 30% used during synthesis (D3-Ru-MOF) exhibits enhanced catalytic performance for CO2 hydrogenation to formate compared with its nondefective counterpart. After hydrogen pretreatment, D3-Ru-MOF achieves a turnover number (TON) of 1258 at 120 °C over 24 h while maintaining good structural stability. A clear structure-activity relationship was observed with catalytic performance dependent on defect density within the framework. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of defect-engineering in Ru-MOFs for improving CO2 hydrogenation performance.
Related Concept Videos
Heterogeneous Catalysis
Reduction of Alkenes: Asymmetric Catalytic Hydrogenation
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...
Catalysis
Olefin Metathesis Polymerization: Overview
Ruthenium-based Grubbs catalyst is the most commonly used catalyst for olefin metathesis polymerization. Grubbs catalyst consists of a...
Reduction of Alkenes: Catalytic Hydrogenation
Metals like palladium, platinum, and nickel are commonly used in their solid forms — fine powder on an inert surface. As these catalysts remain insoluble in the reaction mixture, they are referred to as heterogeneous catalysts.
The hydrogenation process takes place on the...

