Researchers at the University of Liège have succeeded in producing bio-based ruthenium catalysts from caffeine and theophylline. Their method, published in the journal Organometallics, should make the production of these widely used catalysts greener.

Catalysts are usually synthesised from non-renewable raw materials such as oil and metals. Chemists are looking for ways to reduce the carbon footprint of these processes. François Mazars and Lionel Delaude, researchers at the University of Liège, have used caffeine and theophylline as precursors of biological origin to synthesise two ruthenium catalyst precursors