Rechargeable Hydrogen Storage System Based on the Dehydrogenative Coupling of Ethylenediamine with Ethanol.

A novel and simple hydrogen storage system was developed, based on the dehydrogenative coupling of inexpensive ethylenediamine with ethanol to form diacetylethylenediamine. The system is rechargeable and utilizes the same ruthenium pincer catalyst for both hydrogen loading and unloading procedures. It is efficient and uses a low catalyst loading. Repetitive reversal reactions without addition of new catalyst result in excellent conversions in both the dehydrogenation and hydrogenation procedures in three cycles.