Recently, carbon dioxide capture and conversion, along with hydrogen from renewable resources, provide an alternative approach to synthesis of useful fuels and chemicals. People are increasingly interested in developing innovative carbon dioxide hydrogenation catalysts, and the pace of progress in this area is accelerating. Accordingly, this perspective presents current state of the art and outlook in synthesis of light olefins, dimethyl ether, liquid fuels, and alcohols through two leading hydrogenation mechanisms: methanol reaction and Fischer-Tropsch based carbon dioxide hydrogenation. The future research directions for developing new heterogeneous catalysts with transformational technologies, including 3D printing and artificial intelligence, are provided.

Bulk chemicals such as ethylene glycol (EG) can be industrially synthesized from either ethylene or syngas, but the latter undergoes a bottleneck reaction and requires high hydrogen pressures. We show that fullerene (exemplified by C ₆₀ ) can act as an electron buffer for a copper-silica catalyst (Cu/SiO ₂ ). Hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate over a C ₆₀ -Cu/SiO ₂ catalyst at ambient pressure and temperatures of 180° to 190°C had an EG yield of up to 98 ± 1%. In a kilogram-scale reaction, no deactivation of the catalyst was seen after 1000 hours. This mild route for the final step toward EG can be combined with the already-industrialized ambient reaction from syngas to the intermediate of dimethyl oxalate.

The quickly increasing demand for sustainable energy and materials requires researchers to develop highly efficient and stable catalytic materials for the hydrogenation of carbon–oxygen bonds into chemicals and fuels. Cu-based catalysts have been attracting tremendous attention in gas-phase catalytic reactions, such as the water-gas shift, CO oxidation and NO_x reduction reactions. In particular, the C–O bond hydrogenation reaction is an economical and environmentally friendly way to produce alcohols. However, the instability of Cu-based catalysts has become a great challenge for industrial application. The majority of publications discuss the instability of Cu-based catalysts for reactions involving the hydrogenation of dimethyl oxalate, methyl acetate, furfural, or CO₂ to alcohols. This review briefly summarizes the roots of Cu-based catalyst deactivation and introduces five strategies for improving their stability, as well as the evolution of copper species during preparation and reaction and a novel Cu-based catalyst technology.