Cellulosic Cr(salen) complex as an efficient and recyclable catalyst for copolymerization of SO2 with epoxide

Yunfei Zhi; Xuefan Deng; Yonghao Ni; Wenbo Zhao; Qingming Jia; Shaoyun Shan

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.04.031

Cellulosic Cr(salen) complex as an efficient and recyclable catalyst for copolymerization of SO₂ with epoxide

Carbohydr Polym. 2018 Aug 15:194:170-176. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.04.031. Epub 2018 Apr 7.

Authors

Yunfei Zhi¹, Xuefan Deng¹, Yonghao Ni², Wenbo Zhao¹, Qingming Jia³, Shaoyun Shan⁴

Affiliations

¹ Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, China.
² Limerick Pulp and Paper Centre, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, E3B 5A3, Canada.
³ Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, China; Limerick Pulp and Paper Centre, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, E3B 5A3, Canada. Electronic address: jiaqm411@163.com.
⁴ Faculty of Chemical Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming, 650500, China; Limerick Pulp and Paper Centre, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, E3B 5A3, Canada. Electronic address: shansy411@163.com.

PMID: 29801825
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2018.04.031

Abstract

The search for green catalytic processes for the synthesis of useful polymers and incorporating the waste SO₂ in highly-selective pathways become extremely important in the coming years. Herein, cellulose was modified by ethylenediamine, and then synthesized Schiff base with 3,5-di-tert-butyl-2-hydroxybenzaldehyde to immobilize chromium chloride and formed a novel heterogeneous cellulosic Cr(salen)-type catalyst for the first time. The cellulosic Cr(salen)-type catalyst shows high efficiency and recyclability in copolymerization of cyclohexene oxide with SO₂. The influence factors such as the molar ratio of the catalyst and cyclohexene oxide, reaction temperature, and reaction time were researched in detail to study the optimal conditions. The copolymer product was characterized by FTIR and ¹H NMR for confirming the structure. The possible copolymer mechanism is given, and we believed that the novel cellulosic Cr(salen)-type complex will be used as an efficient catalyst in other chemical reactions.

Keywords: Cellulose; Copolymerization; Heterogeneous; Salen-type catalyst; Sulfur dioxide.