New Process for Synthesis of Methanol from CO2under Mild Condition Developed by CAS Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry

The conversion of CO2to methanol is an important topic associated with the resource availability, the energy and the environment. Since CO2is an inert chemical, the chemical conversion of CO2to methanol under mild conditions is a challenging scientific issue, which also comprises an important part of the forwarding-looking concept of the “135” program of the CAS Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry-“A new generation of catalytic conversion leading to green synthesis”.

Recently the State Key Laboratory of Organometallic Chemistry under the CAS Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry has for the first time selectively converted the commercially mature and easily available starting material (vinyl carbonate) to two chemical feedstocks-methanol and ethylene glycol under mild reaction conditions (at less than 140 ℃and 50 atm) in the presence of readily available and easily prepared organometallic ruthenium complex catalyst. It is learned that this reaction features high catalytic activity and 100% atomic economy to provide a new CO2-to-methanol process. The catalytic system developed thereby can also be applied in the hydrogenolysis of polyphthalate carbonates (PPC) coupled with high yield of methanol and 1,2-propanediol to provide a new idea for reclamation of waste PPC.