Cycloaddition reaction of carbon dioxide to epoxides catalyzed by polymer-supported quaternary phosphonium salts

Polymer-supported quaternary phosphonium salt (ps-qps) was explored as effective catalyst for the coupling reaction of carbon dioxide with epoxides. the results indicated that cyclic carbonates with high yields (98.6%) and excellent selectivity (100%) could be prepared at the conditions of 5 mpa co 150°c,and 6 h without the addition of organic solvents or cocatalysts. the effects of various reaction conditions on the catalytic performance were investigated in detail. the catalyst is applicable to a variety of epoxides,producing the corresponding cyclic carbonates in good yields. furthermore,the catalyst could be recovered easily and reused for five times without loss of catalytic activity obviously. a proposed mechanism for synthesis of cyclic carbonate in the presence of ps-qps was discussed. the catalyst was characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (tga),scanning electron microscopy (sem),and fourier transform infrared (ft-ir) spectrum. it is believed that ps-qps is of great potential for cofixation applications due to its unusual advantages,such as easy preparation,high activity and selectivity,stability,low cost,and reusability. © 2013 yubing xiong et al.