Reversible catalytic dehydrogenation of alcohols for energy storage

Significance Catalytic hydrogenation and dehydrogenation reactions are extremely important in organic chemistry and recently for energy storage in the form of chemical bonds. Although catalysts are known which catalyze both reactions, the rates and conditions required for the two are frequently very different due to the differences associated with the bonds to be activated (C–H/O–H/N–H and C = O/C = N/H–H). The use of a bifunctional catalyst would substantially simplify the design of processes related to energy storage. In this work, organometallic complexes of iron and iridium are shown to act as catalysts for reversible dehydrogenation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds. This finding opens a pathway to the development of catalysts for direct reversible electrochemical dehydrogenation of organic fuels in energy generation and storage reactions.