With the catalytic induction of ethylene glycol (EG), anhydrous N,N-dimethylethanolamine (DMEA) shows CO 2 absorption performance via chemical binding and physical storage under normal pressure. Among the absorbents, pure DMEA and EG can hardly absorb CO 2 directly, but when the zwitterionic alkylcarbonates are formed between CO 2 and DMEA-EG, which can be characterized by 13 C NMR and FTIR spectroscopy, the absorption rate of CO 2 is improved. With the increase in the CO 2 loading as the mass fraction of EG in DMEA−EG, 80 wt % EG captures up to 0.72 mol/mol at 293 K and 101 kPa via chemical binding and physical storage. The amount that is chemically bound and physically stored is directly dependent on temperature; within the range of 293−323 K, an absorption− regeneration cycle can be formed in a closed vessel because the zwitterion DMEA−EG−CO 2 is unstable at higher temperatures. In other words, DMEA−EG−CO 2 can be easily regenerated upon appropriate depressurization or heating. The corresponding thermodynamic calculations prove that the regenerative energy of DMEA−EG−CO 2 is −27.33 kJ/mol, far less than that of other absorbent systems.

N-Heterocyclic compounds play a significant role in the metabolism of all living cells, which is ususlly synthesized through transition metal-catalyzed oxidation. Herein, we report a novel metal-free synthesis of N-heterocycles...

Correction for ‘Metal-free oxidative synthesis of benzimidazole compounds by dehydrogenative coupling of diamines and alcohols’ by Jiaming Hu et al., Org. Biomol. Chem., 2022, DOI: 10.1039/d2ob00165a.