Design of ionic polymer catalysts for the synthesis of carbonates from CO2 and epoxides
The synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and CO2 (CCE reaction) is an atom-efficient, scalable reaction of industrial importance. It is an important example of a catalytic reaction highlighting the utilization of CO2 as a building block. Numerous catalysts (both metallic and metal-free)[1] have been proposed for this reaction, and in particular, ionic liquids and ionic polymers have emerged as a class of potent catalysts in this transformation. In our group, we have prepared imidazolium-based polymers (Fig. 1) incorporating functional groups that are potent catalysts for the CCE reaction.[2-4]
[1] F. D. Bobbink and P. J. Dyson, J. Catal., 2016, 343, 52–61.
[2] S. Ghazali-Esfahani, H. Song, E. Păunescu, F. D. Bobbink, H. Liu, Z. Fei, G. Laurenczy, M. Bagherzadeh, N. Yan and P. J. Dyson, Green Chem., 2013, 15, 1584
[3] F. D. Bobbink and P. J. Dyson, Helv. Chim. Acta, 2016, 99, 821.
[4] F. D. Bobbink, A. P. Van Muyden, A. Gopakumar, Z. Fei and P. J. Dyson, ChemPlusChem, 2017, 82, 144-151.