Recent Developments in the Synthesis of Cyclic Carbonates from Epoxides and CO2

Abstract

The use of CO as a C1 building block will be of essential importance in the future. In this context the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and CO gained great attention recently. These products are valuable compounds in a variety of chemical fields. The development of new catalysts and catalytic systems for this atom-economic, scalable, and industrially relevant reaction is a highly active research field. Over the past 17 years great advances have been made in this area of research. This chapter covers the survey of the important known classes of homogeneous catalysts for the addition of CO to epoxides. Besides pioneering work, recent developments and procedures that allow this transformation under mild reaction conditions (reaction temperatures of ≤100 °C and/or CO pressures of 0.1 MPa) are especially emphasized.

Morphology Control Synthesis of ZIF‐8 as Highly Efficient Catalyst for the Cycloaddition of CO2 to Cyclic Carbonate

“…Cycloaddition between CO2 and epoxide is a noted example of CO 2 recycling and a significant method for obtaining cyclic carbonates. Cyclic carbonates are industrial products commonly used as aprotic polar solvents, electrolytes, precursors of the preparation of polycarbonate preparation, and synthetic drug and chemical reaction intermediates . Given the high stability of CO2, catalysts are applied for cycloaddition to proceed.…”

Boosting the Catalytic Performance of Organic Salts for the Fast and Selective Synthesis of α‐Alkylidene Cyclic Carbonates from Carbon Dioxide and Propargylic Alcohols

“…The chemical conversion of CO 2 into five‐membered cyclic carbonates (5CCs) is one of the most efficient ways to valorise this waste into useful organic synthons. Besides the epoxide/CO 2 coupling reaction studied extensively, the synthesis of α‐alkylidene cyclic five‐membered carbonates (αCCs) by the carboxylative coupling of CO 2 with propargylic alcohols has gained interest recently. αCCs differ in their structure from conventional 5CCs by the presence of an exocyclic olefinic group that facilitates the ring‐opening of the cyclic carbonate by various nucleophiles such as amines and alcohols with the selective formation of one regioisomer .…”

Perspective: green polyurethane synthesis for coating applications

“…However, the completion of the reaction employing traditional Lewis catalysts requires high pressure and temperature affecting the energy consumption of the process. To circumvent this limitation, many research groups have developed new catalysts with the aim of increasing the reaction efficiency under milder conditions (room temperature and CO 2 pressure below 0.1 MPa), taking into account of several other aspects of green chemistry . For instance, employing organocatalysts avoids metal contamination and decreases production costs .…”