Salen, salan and salalen iron(iii) complexes as catalysts for CO2/epoxide reactions and ROP of cyclic esters

Salan, salen and salalen iron complexes as catalysts in CO₂/epoxide reactions and in the ROP of ε-caprolactone and l-lactide.

Stable Fe(iii) phenoxyimines as selective and robust CO2/epoxide coupling catalysts

Air- and moisture-stable Fe(iii)-phenoxyimine complexes catalyse CO₂ coupling reactions with a range of epoxides to selectively form cyclic carbonates.

Cross-linked chitosan with a dicationic ionic liquid as a recyclable biopolymer-supported catalyst for cycloaddition of carbon dioxide with epoxides into cyclic carbonates

A dicationc ionic liquid was synthesized and immobilized on chitosan as a catalyst for cycloaddition of CO₂ with epoxides for synthesis of cyclic carbonates.

A Single-Site Iron(III)-Salan Catalyst for Converting COS to Sulfur-Containing Polymers

An iron(III) complex of tetradentate N,N′-disubstituted bis(aminophenoxide) (designated as salan, a saturated version of the corresponding salen ligand) with a sterically hindered organic base anchored on the ligand framework, can selectively mediate the conversion of carbonyl sulfide to sulfur-containing polymers by the copolymerization with epoxides. This single-site catalyst exhibits broad substrate scope, and the resultant copolymers have completely alternating structures. In addition, this catalyst is efficient in producing diblock copolymers, suggesting a living polymerization nature.

An Efficient and Versatile Lanthanum Heteroscorpionate Catalyst for Carbon Dioxide Fixation into Cyclic Carbonates

A new lanthanum heteroscorpionate complex has shown exceptional catalytic activity for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and carbon dioxide. This catalyst system also promotes the reaction of bio-based epoxides to give an important class of bis(cyclic carbonates) that can be further used for the production of bio-derived non-isocyanate polyurethanes. The catalytic process requires low catalyst loading and mild reaction conditions for the synthesis of a wide range of cyclic carbonates.

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

The use of CO₂ as a C1 building block will be of essential importance in the future. In this context the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and CO₂ 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 CO₂ to epoxides. Besides pioneering work, recent developments and procedures that allow this transformation under mild reaction conditions (reaction temperatures of ≤100 °C and/or CO₂ pressures of 0.1 MPa) are especially emphasized.

Aluminum-Mediated Formation of Cyclic Carbonates: Benchmarking Catalytic Performance Metrics

We report a comparative study on the activity of a series of fifteen binary catalysts derived from various reported aluminum-based complexes. A benchmarking of their initial rates in the coupling of various terminal and internal epoxides in the presence of three different nucleophilic additives was carried out, providing for the first time a useful comparison of activity metrics in the area of cyclic organic carbonate formation. These investigations provide a useful framework for how to realistically valorize relative reactivities and which features are important when considering the ideal operational window of each binary catalyst system.

Aluminum complexes derived from a hexadentate salen-type Schiff base: synthesis, structure, and catalysis for cyclic carbonate synthesis

The unexpected aluminum complex was synthesized and found to be active in the cycloaddition reaction of terminal epoxides and CO₂ at atmospheric pressure.

Development of pyridine based o-aminophenolate zinc complexes as structurally tunable catalysts for CO2 fixation into cyclic carbonates

Structure–reactivity correlation in o-aminophenolate zinc catalysts provides an atom-efficient protocol for the conversion of CO₂ into valuable cyclic carbonates.

Glycidol: an Hydroxyl-Containing Epoxide Playing the Double Role of Substrate and Catalyst for CO2 Cycloaddition Reactions

Glycidol is converted into glycerol carbonate (GC) by coupling with CO₂ in the presence of tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) under mild reaction conditions (T=60 °C, PCO2 =1 MPa) in excellent yields (99 %) and short reaction time (t=3 h). The unusual reactivity of this substrate compared to other epoxides, such as propylene oxide, under the same reaction conditions is clearly related to the presence of a hydroxyl functionality on the oxirane ring. Density functional theory calculations (DFT) supported by ¹ H NMR experiments reveal that the unique behavior of this substrate is a result of the formation of intermolecular hydrogen bonds into a dimeric structure, activating this molecule to nucleophilic attack, and allowing the formation of GC. Furthermore, the glycidol/TBAB catalytic system acts as an efficient organocatalyst for the cycloaddition of CO₂ to various oxiranes.

Selective Catalytic Synthesis Using the Combination of Carbon Dioxide and Hydrogen: Catalytic Chess at the Interface of Energy and Chemistry

The present Review highlights the challenges and opportunities when using the combination CO2 /H2 as a C1 synthon in catalytic reactions and processes. The transformations are classified according to the reduction level and the bond-forming processes, covering the value chain from high volume basic chemicals to complex molecules, including biologically active substances. Whereas some of these concepts can facilitate the transition of the energy system by harvesting renewable energy into chemical products, others provide options to reduce the environmental impact of chemical production already in today's petrochemical-based industry. Interdisciplinary fundamental research from chemists and chemical engineers can make important contributions to sustainable development at the interface of the energetic and chemical value chain. The present Review invites the reader to enjoy this exciting area of "catalytic chess" and maybe even to start playing some games in her or his laboratory.

Cavitand-Based Polyphenols as Highly Reactive Organocatalysts for the Coupling of Carbon Dioxide and Oxiranes

A variety of cavitand-based polyphenols was prepared from cheap and accessible aldehyde and resorcinol/pyrogallol reagents to give the respective resorcin[4]- or pyrogallol[4]arenes. The preorganization of the phenolic units allows intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bond (HB) networks that affect both the reactivity and stability of these HB-donor catalysts. Unexpectedly, we found that the resorcin[4]arenes show cooperative catalysis behavior compared to the parent resorcinol in the catalytic coupling of epoxides and CO2 with a significantly higher turnover. At elevated reaction temperatures, the resorcin[4]arene-based catalyst 3 d displays the best catalytic performance with very high turnover numbers and frequencies, combining increased reactivity and stability compared to pyrogallol, and an ample substrate scope. This type of polyphenol structure thus illustrates the importance of a new, highly competitive organocatalyst design to devise sustainable CO2 conversion processes.

Synthesis of Cyclic Carbonates Catalysed by Chromium and Aluminium Salphen Complexes

Chromium and aluminium salphen complexes have been found to display remarkable catalytic activity in the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from a range of epoxides and carbon dioxide. The Al(salphen) complex is more reactive towards terminal epoxides at ambient temperature and pressure, whereas the Cr(salphen) complex exhibits higher catalytic activity towards more challenging internal epoxides at elevated temperature and pressure.

Iron amino-bis(phenolate) complexes for the formation of organic carbonates from CO2 and oxiranes

Air-stable iron complexes display good activity for CO₂-epoxide cycloadditions and reactivity trends across family are reported.

Design, synthesis and characterization of novel dioxime ligand-based cobaloxime compounds for application in the coupling of CO2 with epoxides

Novel dioxime-based cobaloxime complexes have been obtained by click chemistry and used as catalysts for the conversion of CO₂ to a cyclic carbonate without using any solvent.

Chromium complexes containing a tetradentate [OSSO]-type bisphenolate ligand as a novel family of catalysts for the copolymerization of carbon dioxide and 4-vinylcyclohexene oxide

A functional polycarbonate is efficiently prepared by new [OSSO]CrX catalyzing the copolymerization of 4-vinylcyclohexene oxide with carbon dioxide.

Synthesis of Cyclic Carbonates from Epoxides and Carbon Dioxide by Using Bifunctional One-Component Phosphorus-Based Organocatalysts

Numerous bifunctional organocatalysts were synthesized and tested for the atom-efficient addition of carbon dioxide and epoxides to produce cyclic carbonates. These catalysts are based on phosphonium salts containing an alcohol moiety in the side chain for substrate activation through hydrogen bonding. In the model reaction, converting 1,2-butylene oxide with CO2 , 19 catalysts were tested to determine structure-activity relationships. In total, 28 epoxides were converted with CO2 to give the respective cyclic carbonates in yields of up to 99%. Even at 45 °C, the most active catalyst was able to produce cyclic carbonates selectively in high yields. The carbonates were generally obtained as analytically pure products after simple filtration over silica gel. This single-component catalyst system works under neat and mild reaction conditions and tolerates several useful moieties.

New iron pyridylamino-bis(phenolate) catalyst for converting CO2 into cyclic carbonates and cross-linked polycarbonates

The atom-efficient reaction of CO2 with a variety of epoxides has been efficiently achieved employing iron pyridylamino-bis(phenolate) complexes as bifunctional catalysts. The addition of a Lewis base co-catalyst allowed significant reduction in the amount of iron complex needed to achieve high epoxide conversions. The possibility of controlling the selectivity of the reaction towards either cyclic carbonate or polycarbonate was evaluated. An efficient switch in selectivity could be achieved when cyclic epoxides such as cyclohexene oxide and the seldom explored 1,2-epoxy-4-vinylcyclohexane were used as substrates. The obtained poly(vinylcyclohexene carbonate) presents pending vinyl groups, which allowed post-synthetic cross-linking by reaction with 1,3-propanedithiol. The cross-linked polycarbonate displayed a substantial increase in the glass transition temperature and chemical resistance, thus opening new opportunities for the application of these green polymers.

Extraction of lithium-ion battery electrolytes with liquid and supercritical carbon dioxide and additional solvents

A flow-through method for the extraction of lithium-ion battery electrolytes with supercritical and liquid carbon dioxide under the addition of solvents has been developed and optimized to achieve quantitative extraction of the electrolyte from commercial 18 650 cells.

Highly efficient synthesis of cyclic carbonates from carbon dioxide and epoxides catalyzed by ionic liquid [Heemim][ZrCl5]

A facile and efficient synthesis of cyclic carbonates by cycloaddition reaction is described.

Thioether-triphenolate bimetallic iron(iii) complexes as robust and highly efficient catalysts for cycloaddition of carbon dioxide to epoxides

The selective and effective synthesis of organic carbonates under mild conditions, starting from carbon dioxide and oxiranes, catalyzed by metal complexes is currently a focus of interest for both industrial and academic researchers. We recently developed a novel thioether-triphenolate iron(iii) catalyst (Ct-Bu) that has proven to be highly active for the coupling of CO₂ with epoxides, resulting in cyclic organic carbonates under solvent-free conditions. In the current work, the properties of this novel class of catalysts were extensively investigated. In particular, the steric properties of the ligand were modulated by changing the substituents of the aromatic rings in order to obtain a deeper knowledge of the relationship between the complex structure and catalytic performance/selectivity for these iron complexes. Notably, the less steric demanding iron(iii) CH complex synthesized shows, when activated by n-tetrabutylammonium bromide, an impressive turnover frequency (TOF) of 3800 h⁻¹ for the formation of propylene carbonate and glycerol carbonate which are, by far, the highest reported for an iron based catalyst and compares well with the most active catalyst based on other metals.