CO2 as a soft oxidant for oxidative dehydrogenation reaction: An eco benign process for industry

Utilization of CO2 as soft oxidant is emerging as a potential technology for industrial production of alkenes. Traditional way of alkene production in mass scale involves direct dehydrogenation of alkanes, which is energetically expensive. Oxidative dehydrogenation in the presence of CO2 is a greener alternate to the traditional normal dehydrogenation process. Hence, this area has drawn remarkable investment of research interest worldwide. From environmental point of view, utilization of CO2 is accepted as a means to mitigate the ever increasing greenhouse gas effect. CO2 utilization is also attractive for its abundant availability and cheaper cost. But utilization of CO2 suffers from the limitation of its inherent inertness. Application of suitable catalyst can help to overcome the thermodynamic and kinetic barrier of CO2 activation. Exploitation of the soft oxidant property of CO2 with the help of suitable catalyst in commercial scale can give a boost to polymer and fuel economy. Hence, it is interesting to focus on the possibilities of CO2 utilization in oxidative dehydrogenation process. The challenges met in this process and the invention of catalytic technologies to address those problems are summarized in this mini-review.