Organometallic Chemistry of Carbon Dioxide Pertinent to Catalysis

Abstract

Abstract Transition-metal mediated transformations of carbon dioxide have attracted increased attention from the organometallic chemist. The search for alternate uses of carbon dioxide is motivated by two principal concerns: the increase in carbon dioxide concentration levels over the past four centuries and the depletion of fossil fuels. Indeed the two problems represent both the cause and effect, where the increased burning of fossil fuels has been implicated as one of the primary causes of the rise of CO2 concentration levels (Idso 1988; Abrahamson 1989). The controversy over global climate changes are subsiding, with the consensus of opinion being that increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will sooner or later lead to global warming (∼0.3 °C per decade). Of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide contributes most to global warming, i.e. approximately 55 per cent. An issue which is now open to debate is how to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in an economically feasible manner. Some of the easier measures to take would be to control CO2 emissions in manufacturing and electricity generation processes, and to recover part or all of the cost of doing this with production of value added chemicals.