Organic carbonates have come to occupy an important position as excellent solvents and useful intermediates. In particular, Dimethyl carbonate (DMC) has been drawing much attention as a safe, noncorrosive, and environmentally friendly building block for the production of polycarbonate and other chemicals. Also, DMC is of interest as an additive to fuel oil owing to the high octane number, reducing particulate emission from diesel engines. In addition, oxazolidinones are important heterocyclic compounds showing a large application as intermediates and chiral auxiliaries in organic synthesis. Cyclic carbamates like 5-substituted oxazolidinones are often employed as fragments in biologically active materials for pharmaceutical and agricultural uses.     A series of easily prepared Lewis basic ionic liquids (ILs) e.g. DABCO-derived ILs were developed for efficient synthesis of cyclic carbonate/DMC/oxazolidinones in high selectivity from CO2 under mild conditions without utilization of any organic solvents or additives. Furthermore, the catalyst could be recycled over several times without appreciable loss of catalytic activity. Therefore, this solvent-free process thus represents an environmentally friendly example for catalytic conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals by employing Lewis basic ionic liquids as catalyst. A possible catalytic cycle for hydrogen bond-assisted ring-opening of epoxide and CO2's activation induced by nucleophilic tertiary nitrogen of the ionic liquid was also proposed.

Carbon dioxide chemistry: Ionic liquids-catalyzed transformation of CO<sub>2 </sub>into fuel additives and value-added chemicals

241st National Meeting (2011)

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Carbon dioxide chemistry: Ionic liquids-catalyzed transformation of CO2 into fuel additives and value-added chemicals

Carbon dioxide chemistry: Ionic liquids-catalyzed transformation of CO₂into fuel additives and value-added chemicals