Silica supported polyvinyl pyridine as a highly active heterogeneous base catalyst for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from carbon dioxide and epoxides

Reaction of epoxides and carbon dioxide to corresponding cyclic carbonates using silica supported polyvinyl pyridine as a highly active heterogeneous base catalyst has been reported. Typical optimized PVP/SiO2 catalyst can be prepared from 10 wt.% loading of PVP using silica of surface area of 800 m2 g−1. The reaction gives 91% yield of propylene carbonate at 5.5 MPa CO2 pressure, 150 °C and 6 h. The catalyst was found to be recyclable over four recycles without any loss in the catalytic activity.

Graphical abstractReaction of epoxides and carbon dioxide to corresponding cyclic carbonates using silica supported polyvinyl pyridine as a highly active heterogeneous base catalyst has been reported. The roles of various reaction parameters are studied in detail for the reaction and the catalyst was found to be recyclable up to four recycles without any loss in the catalytic activity. Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide