Ammonia
borane (AB) has received extensive attention
in recent years as an emerging hydrogen storage material due to its
high hydrogen density (19.6 wt %), nontoxicity, stability, and water
solubility. Although AB itself is stable in water, its
catalytic dehydrogenation (2 mol eq) in aqueous media produces borazine
whose tandem hydrolytic reaction enables further hydrogen release
(1 mol eq). Thus, water serves both as a reaction medium and also
a pure hydrogen fuel source (33% of overall released H2). A high capacity and fast homogeneous AB hydrolytic
dehydrogenation system is reported using water-soluble CAAC-Ru carbene
catalysts (5 and 6). Applying catalyst 6 at 50 ppm (0.015 mM) loading a high TON of 43,600 can be
observed; meanwhile, the yield of the released H2 remains
high (73%, equal to 2.2 released molH2/molBH3NH3). The evolved hydrogen can achieve 2.9 molH2/molBH3NH3 ([6] = 3.0 mM) and
a TON of 86,100 (equal to 1.70 kg H2 (released)/g Ru metal
(used)) (10 ppm loading, [6] = 0.003 mM). The energy
density of 1.70 kg H2 is equal to that of 6.6 L of gasoline,
which is a general consumption for a medium category car/100 km. The
reaction yields nonhazardous borates up to 99% yield, which are considered
as a recyclable commodity material for hydrogen storage systems. As
the metaborate ion (BO2
–)-induced catalyst
passivation causing a decrease in accessibility of active sites in
heterogeneous catalysis does not occur at homogeneous conditions,
the reported high TON values can be achieved within significantly
shorter reaction times and lower catalyst concentrations.