Green process for dimethyl carbonate synthesis starting from carbon dioxide

Basic ion-exchange resins, NaZSM-5 zeolite and basic ionic liquids were proved to be highly efficient and recyclable catalysts for DMC synthesis through two-step process. Notably, neither solvent nor any additives were required, and the catalyst can be recovered by simply filtration and directly reused at least five times without significant loss of catalytic activity and selectivity. In general, this solvent-free process thus represents environmentally friendly catalytic conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals and has great potential to be applied in various continuous flow reactors in industry. This process eliminates the requirement for toxic and wasteful feedstocks such as phosgene and carbon monoxide. Those findings summarized here would open synthetic pathways for the selective synthesis of organic carbonates and oxazolidinones as well as its derivatives from an abundant chemical feedstock and demonstrate that such CO2 functionalization with high energy starting material like epoxides is easily operative. We hope this presentation will stimulate further interest in research that may lead to the development of carbon dioxide as a new source for fuels and fine chemicals.