A Novel POP-Ni Catalyst Derived from PBTP for Ambient Fixation of CO2 into Cyclic Carbonates

Fen Wei; Jiaxiang Qiu; Yanbin Zeng; Zhimeng Liu; Xiaoxia Wang; Guanqun Xie

doi:10.3390/ma16062132

A Novel POP-Ni Catalyst Derived from PBTP for Ambient Fixation of CO₂ into Cyclic Carbonates

Materials (Basel). 2023 Mar 7;16(6):2132. doi: 10.3390/ma16062132.

Authors

Fen Wei^{1

2}, Jiaxiang Qiu², Yanbin Zeng², Zhimeng Liu¹, Xiaoxia Wang¹, Guanqun Xie²

Affiliations

¹ Guangdong Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center of Key Material for High Performance Copper Clad Laminate, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, China.
² School of Environment and Civil Engineering, Dongguan University of Technology, Dongguan 523808, China.

Abstract

The immobilization of homogeneous catalysts has always been a hot issue in the field of catalysis. In this paper, in an attempt to immobilize the homogeneous [Ni(Me₆Tren)X]X (X = I, Br, Cl)-type catalyst with porous organic polymer (POP), the heterogeneous catalyst PBTP-Me₆Tren(Ni) (POP-Ni) was designed and constructed by quaternization of the porous bromomethyl benzene polymer (PBTP) with tri[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]amine (Me₆Tren) followed by coordination of the Ni(II) Lewis acidic center. Evaluation of the performance of the POP-Ni catalyst found it was able to catalyze the CO₂ cycloaddition with epichlorohydrin in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), affording 97.5% yield with 99% selectivity of chloropropylene carbonate under ambient conditions (80 °C, CO₂ balloon). The excellent catalytic performance of POP-Ni could be attributed to its porous properties, the intramolecular synergy between Lewis acid Ni(II) and nucleophilic Br anion, and the efficient adsorption of CO₂ by the multiamines Me₆Tren. In addition, POP-Ni can be conveniently recovered through simple centrifugation, and up to 91.8% yield can be obtained on the sixth run. This research provided a facile approach to multifunctional POP-supported Ni(II) catalysts and may find promising application for sustainable and green synthesis of cyclic carbonates.

Keywords: POP-Ni catalyst; carbon dioxide fixation; catalytic material; green chemistry; heterogeneous catalysis.

Abstract

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