Catalytic performance of immobilized ionic liquid onto PEG for the cycloaddition of carbon dioxide to allyl glycidyl ether

Ionic liquids immobilized onto structurally modified polyethylene glycol (PEG) were prepared through the reaction of 1-(2-hydroxyl-ethyl)-3-alkyl-imidazolum chloride and PEG-succinic acid. Elemental analysis, SEM, 13C NMR and FT-IR showed that the immobilized ionic liquid groups were well incorporated onto the PEG support. The PEG-supported ionic liquids (PEG-IL) proved to be an effective heterogeneous catalyst for the solventless synthesis of cyclic carbonate from allyl glycidyl ether (AGE) and carbon dioxide. PEG of lower molecular weight had higher conversion of AGE. High temperature and carbon dioxide pressure and the presence of zinc halide co-catalyst were favorable for AGE conversion. PEG-IL can be reused for the reaction through up to three consecutive runs without significant loss of its catalytic activity.

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► Ionic liquids were successfully immobilized onto polyethylene glycol (PEG).
► PEG-ILs were very efficient for the synthesis of allyl glycidyl carbonate.
► They can be reused without any significant loss of their catalytic activity.
► No additional solvent was used for the synthesis of allyl glycidyl carbonate.