Biomass-derived γ-valerolactone as an efficient solvent and catalyst for the transformation of CO2 to formamides†
Abstract
Efficient conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into valuable chemicals is a very attractive topic. Herein, we conducted the first work on the utilization of biomass-derived γ-valerolactone (GVL) as the solvent and catalyst for transformation of CO2 with various primary and secondary amines in the presence of phenylsilane (PhSiH3), and the corresponding desired formamides were produced with high yields without any additional catalyst. Systematic studies indicated that the lactone structure of GVL played a key role in the formation of the active silyl formates and the activation of N–H bonds in amines, thus leading to the excellent performance of GVL for the catalytic reactions.