The use of renewable energy is central for the realization of a circular economy, which is essential for further global economic development. In this background, hydrogen storage materials play an important role. Here we propose a previously overlooked, industrially available bulk chemical (methyl formate, MF) as an efficient and practical hydrogen storage material. Utilizing appropriate catalysts, hydrogen production from MF is significantly faster than with other established chemical hydrogen carriers, such as formic acid and methanol, under very mild conditions. The optimized MF dehydrogenation system presented here is highly active (maximum turnover frequency (TOF_max) > 44,000 h⁻¹ and turnover number > 100,000) and selective (CO undetectable). Moreover, the solvent-free MF dehydrogenation demonstrates its application potential. Here we show the dehydrogenation reaction of MF. We expect that these insights will serve as an inspiration for the development of alternative energy materials and new catalytic transformations.

可再生能源的使用是实现循环经济的核心，而循环经济对于全球经济的进一步发展至关重要。在此背景下，储氢材料发挥着重要作用。在这里，我们提出了一种以前被忽视的、工业上可用的大宗化学品（甲酸甲酯，MF）作为一种高效实用的储氢材料。使用适当的催化剂，在非常温和的条件下，从 MF 生产氢气的速度明显快于其他现有的化学氢载体，例如甲酸和甲醇。这里介绍的优化的 MF 脱氢系统具有高活性（最大周转频率 (TOF _max ) > 44,000 h ⁻¹且周转数 > 100,000）和选择性（CO 检测不到）。此外，无溶剂的MF脱氢显示了其应用潜力。在这里我们展示了 MF 的脱氢反应。我们期望这些见解将为替代能源材料和新催化转化的开发提供灵感。