Homogeneous Iron Catalysts for the Synthesis of Useful Molecules from CO2

Carbon dioxide utilization is a hot topic in modern science, and chemical transformation of CO2 into useful molecules (e.g. fuels, solvents, polymers, drugs, and building blocks) has gained more and more attention during the past decades. The search for highly efficient catalytic systems plays a major role in the development of sustainable CO2 fixation. At the same time, catalyst design must be conducted following the green chemistry principles. For this reason, iron is emerging as a desired substitute of other transition metals (e.g. chromium, ruthenium, and rhodium) because of its Earth crust abundance and low toxicity. Here, we describe the use of iron-based homogeneous catalytic systems for the conversion of carbon dioxide into value-added products by means of both reductive and nonreductive processes.