Cycloaddition Reaction of Carbon Dioxide to Epoxides Catalyzed by Polymer-Supported Quaternary Phosphonium Salts

Abstract EN

Polymer-supported quaternary phosphonium salt (PS-QPS) was explored as effective catalyst for the coupling reaction of carbon dioxide with epoxides.

The results indicated that cyclic carbonates with high yields (98.6%) and excellent selectivity (100%) could be prepared at the conditions of 5 MPa CO2, 150°C, and 6 h without the addition of organic solvents or cocatalysts.

The effects of various reaction conditions on the catalytic performance were investigated in detail.

The catalyst is applicable to a variety of epoxides, producing the corresponding cyclic carbonates in good yields.

Furthermore, the catalyst could be recovered easily and reused for five times without loss of catalytic activity obviously.

A proposed mechanism for synthesis of cyclic carbonate in the presence of PS-QPS was discussed.

The catalyst was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrum.

It is believed that PS-QPS is of great potential for CO2 fixation applications due to its unusual advantages, such as easy preparation, high activity and selectivity, stability, low cost, and reusability.