Cationic organobismuth complex as an effective catalyst for conversion of CO₂ into cyclic carbonates

Abstract

In order to achieve high-efficiency conversion of CO₂ into valuable chemicals, and to exploit new applications of organobismuth compounds, cationic organobismuth complex with 5,6,7,12-tetrahydrodibenz[c,f]1^,5 azabismocine framework was examined for the first time for the coupling of CO₂ into cyclic carbonates, using terminal epoxides as substrates and tetrabutylammonium halide as co-catalyst in a solvent-free environment under mild conditions. It is shown that the catalyst exhibited high activity and selectivity for the coupling reaction of CO₂ with a wide range of terminal epoxide. The selectivity of propylene carbonates could reach 100%, and the maximum turnover frequency was up to 10740 h^-1 at 120°C and 3 MPa CO₂ pressure when tetrabutylammonium iodide was used as co-catalyst. Moreover, the catalyst is environment friendly, resistant to air and water, and can be readily reused and recycled without any loss of activity, demonstrating a potential in industrial application.

Keywords

cationic organobismuth complex / terminal epoxide / carbon dioxide / coupling / cyclic carbonate

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 20507005) and Outstanding Young Research Award of National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. E50725825). Prof. Yin also shows sincere thanks to Dr. Shimada of National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST, Japan) for his kind help on organobismuth chemistry.

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2014 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg