"Activating Carbon Monoxide and Carbon Dioxide with Organometallic Uranium Complexes- Closing the Carbon Cycle" Geoff Cloke CPD Conference June 22 nd 2012

The Carbon Cycle ~80 % of current global energy supply depends on fossil fuels End product of combustion is CO 2 Oil reserves are finite- peak oil will occur Create C-C bonds and/or C-H bonds from CO or CO 2 Uncertainty in petroleum cost and supply demands that alternative sources of primary organic materials be developed. Carbon monoxide as a component of synthesis gas (H 2 + CO) from coal and biomass will have a leading role in meeting these needs develop strategies that use CO as a two-carbon or larger building block to construct the organic materials needed for fuels and chemical manufacturing. Wayland, Science, 2006

Sandwiches!

Why Uranium ?? E / volts U IV/III : E ½ = V What to do with all the depleted uranium??! U % U % 5,404,000 tonnes! Uranium(III)- highly reducing

Cyclisation of Carbon Monoxide O. T. Summerscales, F. G. N. Cloke, P. B. Hitchcock, J. C. Green, and N. Hazari, Science, 2006, 311, 829.

The Oxocarbons (CO) n 2-

The Next One in the Series- Squarate O. T. Summerscales, F. G. N. Cloke, P. B. Hitchcock, J. C. Green, and N. Hazari, J.Am.Chem. Soc, 2006, 128, 9602.

Carbon Dioxide Activation + A.S.P. Frey, O.T. Summerscales, F.G.N. Cloke, M.P. Coles, P.B. Hitchcock, Chem.Commun., 2009

Carbon Dioxide Activation 2 Nikos Tsoureas, unpublished results 2012

Coupling of Nitric Oxide and Carbon Monoxide + CO + NO > C >200 0 C<300 0 C A.S.P.Frey, F.G.N.Cloke, M.P.Coles, P.B.Hitchcock, Chem. Eur. J., 2010, 16, 9305.

Methanol Synthesis A.S. P. Frey, F. G. N. Cloke, M. P. Coles, L. Maron, and T. Davin, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 6881

The Future….. Chemically? Electrochemically- controlled potential electrolysis?