A Bifunctional Ruthenium Catalyst for Effective Renewable Hydrogen Production from Biomass-Derived Sorbitol

In the present worldwide situation, the transition to a more sustainable hydrogen economy from the prevailing energy infrastructure is gaining great attention. Herein, for hydrogen production from biomass-derived sorbitol, we employed a bifunctional NNN-Ru system bearing protic arms in a ligand scaffold liable for a metal-ligand cooperativity pathway as well as a secondary-coordination-sphere hydrogen-bonding interaction for the appropriate substrate orientation at the active center. A maximum turnover number of 35359 was achieved during sorbitol reforming for hydrogen production. The catalyst was found to remain active for up to seven runs with an efficient catalytic activity. A series of NMR studies were performed that revealed the active participation of functionalized ligands during catalysis.