Iridium‐Catalyzed Selective Cross‐Coupling of Ethylene Glycol and Methanol to Lactic Acid
Jiajie Wu, Lingyun Shen, Zhe‐Ning Chen, Qingshu Zheng, Xin Xu, Tao Tu
Abstract
Abstract An atom‐economic approach that has an unprecedented high selectivity for the synthesis of lactic acid (LA) based on a catalytic dehydrogenative cross‐coupling by using inexpensive bulk ethylene glycol and methanol is described. This method relies on the synthesis and utilization of a novel iridium catalyst bearing three N‐heterocyclic carbenes derived from 1,3‐dimethylbenzimidazolium salts, and exhibits outstanding activity in the production of LA [turnover frequency (TOF) up to 3660 h −1 ] owing to an elegant metal–ligand cooperation.
Topics & Concepts
Ethylene glycolMethanolCatalysisIridiumLactic acidChemistrySelectivityLigand (biochemistry)EthyleneAtom (system on chip)MetalCombinatorial chemistryCoupling (piping)Polymer chemistryOrganic chemistryMaterials scienceBiochemistryBacteriaReceptorMetallurgyBiologyComputer scienceGeneticsEmbedded systemAsymmetric Hydrogenation and CatalysisCatalysis for Biomass ConversionCarbon dioxide utilization in catalysis