In this chapter the direct, non-metal-mediated interaction of carbon dioxide with electron-rich elemental or molecular species is discussed. Anionic species such as H À , OH À , and R 3 C À and covalent species such as amines have been taken into consideration, in view of their relevance to systems of potential or real industrial interest.
Reaction with the Hydride IonHydrides can be categorized in various classes according to the nature of the bond that links the metal and hydrogen. The following categories can usually be found in the literature: ionic hydrides (hydrides with group 1 and 2 elements), covalent hydrides, polymeric hydrides, metallic hydrides, borderline hydrides, and transition metal complex hydrides. Here the reaction of ionic hydrides with carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) is considered. Transition metal hydrides with the formula L n M-H are discussed in Chap. 4, where the interaction of CO 2 with analogous E-X systems (where E and X are different elements) is discussed.Group 1 and group 2 hydrides are ionic, insoluble in aprotic solvents, and not usable in protic solvents such as water and alcohols because they promptly react with H 2 evolution:The ionic hydrides are thermally very stable and have quite high melting temperatures. Depending on the element, they can melt without (CaH 2 ) or with (LiH, NaH, and others) decomposition. NaH decomposes above 573 K, whereas LiH and CaH 2 are stable up to 900 K.Therefore, the reaction of ionic hydrides with CO 2 mostly implies a heterogeneous, biphasic system in which pressurized CO 2 reacts at a temperature of~473 K with the MH (M ¼ Li, H, K, Rb) or MH 2 (Ca, Ba, Sr) species to afford the relevant formate: