Potassium iodide and bis(pyridylcarbamate) electrostatic synergy in the fixation reaction of CO2 and epoxides

Abstract

A series of bis(pyridylcarbamate) ligands with the flexible diethylene glycol spacer and carbamate NH donors as catalysts have been designed and synthesized, and these can be used for the fixation of carbon dioxide with commercially sourced epoxides under mild conditions using alkali metal salts. It is worth noting that between the ligand and the alkali metal salt there is a synergetic effect, which plays an important role in accelerating the reaction rate. A detailed mechanistic insight into the effects of carbamate NH groups and the diethylene glycol spacer on the activation of the epoxides has been studied using density functional theory (DFT) methods.