An efficient, environmentally benign method for the preparation of esters from alcohols under mild, neutral conditions without the need for carboxylic acid derivatives and condensing agents was developed. Catalyst design, based on new Ru(II) hydrido carbonyl complexes incorporating electron-rich PNP and PNN ligands has resulted in the novel complex (I) which is an outstanding catalyst for the dehydrogenation of primary alcohols to esters and H(2) under neutral conditions.

With open arms: A ruthenium PNN complex (see scheme) catalyzes the hydrogenation of esters in high yields under neutral conditions. The analogous PNP complex is less active. A mechanism is proposed based on the hemilabile nature of the PNN ligand which allows a vacant site to be created by decoordination of the CH2NEt2 arm.

A highly active iron catalyst for the hydrogenation of carbon dioxide and bicarbonates works under remarkably low pressures and achieves activities similar to some of the best noble metal catalysts. A mechanism is proposed involving the direct attack of an iron trans-dihydride on carbon dioxide, followed by ligand exchange and dihydrogen coordination.

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The first highly conductive polyselenophene, namely, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxyselenophene) (PEDOS), was synthesized by taking advantage of a novel method for efficiently contracting the selenophene ring. PEDOS shows a relatively low band gap (1.4 eV), very high stability in the oxidized state, and a well-defined spectroelectrochemistry.