Tailor‐made Molecular Cobalt Catalyst System for the Selective Transformation of Carbon Dioxide to Dialkoxymethane Ethers

Abstract Herein a non‐precious transition‐metal catalyst system for the selective synthesis of dialkoxymethane ethers from carbon dioxide and molecular hydrogen is presented. The development of a tailored catalyst system based on cobalt salts in combination with selected Triphos ligands and acidic co‐catalysts enabled a synthetic pathway, avoiding the oxidation of methanol to attain the formaldehyde level of the central CH 2 unit. This unprecedented productivity based on the molecular cobalt catalyst is the first example of a non‐precious transition‐metal system for this transformation utilizing renewable carbon dioxide sources.