Liquid-phase synthesis of methyl formatevia heterogeneous carbonylation of methanol over a soluble copper nanocluster catalyst

Abstract

Liquid-phase synthesis of methyl formate (MF) was achieved by green carbonylation of methanol with CO on a soluble copper nanocluster catalyst with high activities (e.g. 2.7–6.1 mol_MF mol_Cu⁻¹ h⁻¹) and 100% MF selectivities under mild reaction conditions (353–443 K, 0.3–3.0 MPa CO), showing that the Cu nanoclusters can potentially replace the caustic catalysts of alkaline metal alkoxides (e.g. CH₃ONa), required for the current carbonylation process in industry.