N-heterocyclic carbene-functionalized metal-organic frameworks for the chemical fixation of CO2

Advances in CO2 activation by frustrated Lewis pairs: from stoichiometric to catalytic reactions

The rise of CO2 concentrations in the environment due to anthropogenic activities results in global warming and threatens the future of humanity and biodiversity. To address excessive CO2 emissions and its effects on climate change, efforts towards CO2 capture and conversion into value adduct products such as methane, methanol, acetic acid, and carbonates have grown. Frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs) can activate small molecules, including CO2 and convert it into value added products. This review covers recent progress and mechanistic insights into intra- and inter-molecular FLPs comprised of varying Lewis acids and bases (from groups 13, 14, 15 of the periodic table as well as transition metals) that activate CO2 in stoichiometric and catalytic fashion towards reduced products.

Strategic design of a bifunctional Ag(i)-grafted NHC-MOF for efficient chemical fixation of CO2 from a dilute gas under ambient conditions

Facile grafting of catalytically active Ag(i) into CO2-philic NHC-MOF for simultaneous capture and conversion of CO2 from dilute gas to value-added α-alkylidene cyclic carbonate and oxazolidinones under mild conditions is demonstrated.

N-Heterocyclic carbenes and their precursors in functionalised porous materials

Though N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have emerged as diverse and powerful discrete functional molecules in pharmaceutics, nanotechnology, and catalysis over decades, the heterogenization of NHCs and their precursors for broader applications in porous materials, like metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), porous coordination polymers (PCPs), covalent-organic frameworks (COFs), porous organic polymers (POPs), and porous organometallic cages (POMCs) was not extensively studied until the last ten years. By de novo or post-synthetic modification (PSM) methods, myriads of NHCs and their precursors containing building blocks were designed and integrated into MOFs, PCPs, COFs, POPs and POMCs to form various structures and porosities. Functionalisation with NHCs and their precursors significantly expands the scope of the potential applications of porous materials by tuning the pore surface chemical/physical properties, providing active sites for binding guest molecules and substrates and realizing recyclability. In this review, we summarise and discuss the recent progress on the synthetic methods, structural features, and promising applications of NHCs and their precursors in functionalised porous materials. At the end, a brief perspective on the encouraging future prospects and challenges in this contemporary field is presented. This review will serve as a guide for researchers to design and synthesize more novel porous materials functionalised with NHCs and their precursors.

N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Stabilized Ultrasmall Gold Nanoclusters in a Metal-Organic Framework for Photocatalytic CO2 Reduction

Ultrafine gold nanoclusters (Au-NCs) are susceptible to migrate and aggregate, even in the porosity of many crystalline solids. N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are a class of structurally diverse ligands for the stabilization of Au-NCs in homogeneous chemistry, showing catalytic reactivity in CO₂ activation. Herein, for the first time, we demonstrate a heterogeneous nucleation approach to stabilize ultrasmall and highly dispersed gold nanoclusters in an NHC-functionalized porous matrix. The sizes of gold nanoclusters are tunable from 1.3 nm to 1.8 nm based on the interpenetration of the metal-organic framework (MOF) topology. Control experiments using amine or imidazolium-functionalized MOFs afforded the aggregation of Au species. The resultant Au-NC@MOF composite exhibits a steady and excellent activity in photocatalytic CO₂ reduction, superior to control mixtures without NHC-ligand stabilization. Mechanistic studies reveal the synergistic catalytic effect of MOFs and Au-NCs through the MOF-NHC-Au covalent-bonding bridges.

Recent Advances in the Chemistry of Metal Carbamates

Following a related review dating back to 2003, the present review discusses in detail the various synthetic, structural and reactivity aspects of metal species containing one or more carbamato ligands, representing a large family of compounds across all the periodic table. A preliminary overview is provided on the reactivity of carbon dioxide with amines, and emphasis is given to recent findings concerning applications in various fields.