A new synthesis method for lithium borate compounds

April 13, 2016

One-pot construction of novel structures from readily available starting materials

RIKEN CSRS and Organometallic Chemistry Laboratory researchers have developed a simple method for the synthesis of a family of lithium boracarbonate compounds which are potential battery electrolytes using carbon dioxide as a key chemical component. The reaction was achieved in the presence of a copper catalyst via selective coupling of carbon dioxide, a boron compound, aldehydes and a lithium alkoxide in a one-pot process. The resulting products are composed of a lithium borate unit and a cyclic carbonate unit in one molecule, which resembles a combination of lithium borate electrolytes and carbonate solvents commonly used in lithium-ion batteries.

These findings may lead to the development of new solvent-free electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries, and could also contribute to the development of new chemical processes for efficient utilization of carbon dioxide.

Original article

Angewandte Chemie International Edition doi:10.1002/anie.201602278

B. Carry, L. Zhang, M. Nishiura, Z. Hou,

"Synthesis of Lithium Boracarbonate Ion Pairs by Copper-Catalyzed Multi-Component Coupling of Carbon Dioxide, Diboron, and Aldehydes".

Contact

Zhaomin Hou; Group Director

Liang Zhang; Research Scientist

Masayoshi Nishiura; Senior Research Scientist

Advanced Catalysis Research Group