Imidazolium-based Ionic Liquid on magnetic yolk-shell mesoporous particles for CO2 valorization to cyclic carbonates
摘要
Herein, the imidazolium-based ionic liquids with iodide counter ions supported on magnetic yolk-shell mesoporous silica particles were found to be an efficient and recoverable catalyst for direct coupling of carbon dioxide with epoxides under relatively mild reaction conditions. The catalyst was prepared by grafting an imidazolium ionic liquid tagged with alkoxysilane onto the mesoporous magnetic yolk-shell particles prepared through sacrificial methods. After checking various parameters, it was determined that using 0.5 mol% catalyst, 10 bar CO2 at 100 °C under solvent-free conditions represented the optimized conditions for cycloaddition of carbon dioxide to terminal epoxides, resulting in good to excellent yields. The catalyst was also recycled four times without any remarkable loss of activity and selectivity. The unique properties of magnetic yolk-shell mesoporous silica structures arise from the magnetic recoverability of the core, hollow region, and short mesoporous channels. This leads to the simplicity of catalyst recovery from reaction mediums, enrichment of carbon dioxide gas around the catalyst and fast mass transfer of reactants to where ionic liquid organocatalysts are located.
Graphical Abstract