An-Hua Liu

Carbon dioxide utilization with C–N bond formation: carbon dioxide capture and subsequent conversion

Carbon dioxide chemistry (in particular, capture and conversion) has attracted much attention from the scientific community due to global warming associated with positive carbon accumulation. The most widely used chemical absorption technique for carbon capture and storage/sequestration (CCS) would be essentially adopting amino-containing absorbents through formation of C–N bond in terms of mechanistic consideration. However, extensive energy input in desorption and compression process would be a crucial barrier to realize practical CCS. On the other hand, CO2 is very attractive as an environmentally friendly feedstock to replace the hazardous phosgene route for making commodity chemicals, fuels, and materials from a standpoint of green chemistry, whereas the reactions involving CO2 are commonly carried out at high pressure, which may not be economically suitable and also pose safety concerns. The challenge is to develop catalysts that are capable of activating CO2 under low pressure (preferably at 1 atm), and thus incorporating CO2 into organic molecules catalytically. We have proposed a carbon capture and utilization (CCU) strategy as an alternative approach to addressing the energy penalty problem in CCS. The essence of our strategy is to use captured CO2, also considered as the activated form of CO2, which could render this system suitable for accomplishing chemical transformation of CO2 under low pressure to avoid an additional desorption step. Indeed, CO2 could be activated through the formation of carbamate/alkyl carbonate with Lewis basic nitrogen species. In this review, we would like to discuss and update advances on CCU, particularly C–N bond formation with the production of oxazolidinones, quinazolines, carbamates, isocyanates and polyurethanes by using CO2 as C1 feedstock, and CO2 capture by amino-containing absorbents, including conventional aqueous solution of amine, chilled ammonia, amino-functionalized ionic liquids and solid absorbents such as amino-functionalized silica, carbon, polymers and resin, presumably leading to CO2s activation and thus subsequent conversion through C–N bond formation pathway.

Equimolar CO2 Capture by N‐Substituted Amino Acid Salts and Subsequent Conversion

Steric bulk controls CO(2) absorption: N-substituted amino acid salts in poly(ethylene glycol) reversibly absorb CO(2) in nearly 1:1 stoichiometry. Carbamic acid is thought to be the absorbed form of CO(2); this was supported by NMR and in situ IR spectroscopy, and DFT calculations. The captured CO(2) could be converted directly into oxazolidinones and thus CO(2) desorption could be sidestepped.

Lewis basic ionic liquids-catalyzed synthesis of 5-aryl-2-oxazolidinones from aziridines and CO2 under solvent-free conditions

A series of easily prepared Lewis basic ionic liquids were developed as recyclable and efficient catalysts for selective synthesis of 5-aryl-2-oxazolidinones from aziridines and CO2 without utilization of any organic solvent or additive. Notably, high conversion, chemo- and regio-selectivity were attained when 1-butyl-4-aza-1-azaniabicyclo[2.2.2]octane bromide ([C4DABCO]Br) was used as the catalyst. Furthermore, the catalyst could be recycled over four times without appreciable loss of catalytic activity. The effects of the catalyst structure and various reaction parameters on the catalytic performance were investigated in detail. This protocol was found to be applicable to a variety of aziridines producing the corresponding 5-aryl-2-oxazolidinones in good yields and excellent regioselectivities. Therefore, this solvent-free process thus represents an environmentally friendly process for ionic liquid-catalyzed conversion of CO2 into value-added chemicals. A possible catalytic cycle for CO2 activation induced by nucleophilic tertiary nitrogen of the ionic liquid was proposed, based on studies using in situ FT-IR spectroscopy under CO2 pressure.

Iron-catalyzed selective oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides with the polyethylene glycol/O2 system

Readily available iron compounds were found to be active catalysts for the selective oxidation of sulfide to sulfoxide with molecular oxygen as the oxidant in polyethylene glycol (PEG). As an indispensable component, PEG had a great promotive effect on the reaction. Notably, high conversion (>99%) along with excellent chemo-selectivity of up to 94% could be attained by using Fe(acac)2 as the catalyst at 100 °C. This methodology was proved to be applicable for the transformation of various aromatic and aliphatic sulfides into the corresponding sulfoxides with high selectivity. PEG is considered to play a crucial role in stablizing the Fe(IV)-oxo species formed in situ which is supposed to be responsible for the sulfide oxidation.

Catalyst-free approach for solvent-dependent selective oxidation of organic sulfides with oxone

Selective oxidation of sulfides was successfully performed by employing oxone (2KHSO5·KHSO4·K2SO4) as oxidant without utilization of any catalyst/additive under mild reaction conditions. Notably, the reaction can be controlled by the chosen solvent. When ethanol was used as the solvent, sulfoxides were obtained in excellent yield; the reaction almost exclusively gave the sulfone in water. Furthermore, this protocol worked well for various sulfides to the corresponding sulfoxides in ethanol or sulfones in water.

Organic synthesis using carbon dioxide as phosgene-free carbonyl reagent

CO2 is very attractive as a typical renewable feedstock for manufacturing commodity chemicals, fuel, and materials since it is an abundant, nontoxic, nonflammable, and easily available C1 resource. The development of greener chemical methodologies for replacing the utility of hazardous and environmentally undesirable phosgene largely relies on ingenious activation and incorporation of CO2 into valuable compounds, which is of paramount importance from a standpoint of green chemistry and sustainable development. Great efforts have been devoted to constructing C–C, C–O, and C–N bond on the basis of CO2 activation through molecular catalysis owing to its kinetic and thermodynamic stability. The aim of this article is to demonstrate the versatile use of CO2 in organic synthesis as the alternative carbonyl source of phosgene, with the main focus on utilization of CO2 as phosgene replacement for the synthesis of value-added compounds such as cyclic carbonates, oxa-zolidinones, ureas, isocyanates, and polymers, affording greener pathways for future chemical processes.

Carboxylation of terminal alkynes at ambient CO2 pressure in ethylene carbonate

The CuI-catalyzed carboxylation of terminal alkynes with CO2 and alkyl halides using ethylene carbonate as the solvent under mild conditions was studied. DFT calculations reveal that the energy barrier for CO2 insertion into the sp-hybridized Cu-C bond could be reduced by employing ethylene carbonate as the solvent. Notably, the procedure was conducted under ambient CO2 pressure without any external ligands. A broad range of substrates with electron-withdrawing groups or electron-donating groups gave the corresponding products in reasonable yields.

Experimental and theoretical studies on imidazolium ionic liquid-promoted conversion of fructose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural

A combined experimental and computational study on the imidazolium ionic liquid-promoted conversion of fructose to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) was performed. In particular, 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium bromide (BMImBr) was found to be unexpectedly effective for conversion of fructose into HMF without utilizing any other additive or catalyst. Under the optimized conditions, nearly 100% conversion of fructose with a 95% yield of HMF could be obtained. In addition, BMImBr could be easily recovered and reused over 6 times without significant loss of activity. This protocol represents a simple, recyclable and environmentally friendly pathway for HMF production. Furthermore, the detailed mechanism of the BMImBr-promoted conversion of fructose into HMF was also studied through an in situ FT-IR technique, NMR and density functional theory calculations, and demonstrated that the hydrogen bond interaction between BMImBr and fructose could play an important role in promoting the dehydration of fructose. This work also provides further understanding at the molecular level of the reaction process for ionic liquid-promoted conversion of fructose to HMF.

In situ hydrogenation of captured CO2 to formate with polyethyleneimine and Rh/monophosphine system

CO2 in the air can be efficiently captured with simultaneous activation by PEI (polyethyleneimine) to form ammonium carbamate and/or carbonate species. Thus, the in situ hydrogenation of captured CO2 into energy-storage materials rather than going through the desorption of conventional CCS (carbon capture and storage) runs better in comparison with equivalent gaseous CO2, thus validating this potential application of CCU (carbon capture and utilization) for supplying renewable energy. PEI600 as an effective carbon absorbent in this study could also be assumed to serve as both ligand and base to promote the catalytic hydrogenation of captured CO2, consequently acting as a ‘hinge base’ to combine capture and hydrogenation processes. The pathway was studied by NMR and in situ FT-IR spectroscopy under CO2 pressure. This protocol could open up great potential in transforming the captured CO2 from waste to fuel-related products.

Reduction of sulfoxides and pyridine-N-oxides over iron powder with water as hydrogen source promoted by carbon dioxide

A green process was developed for efficient reduction of sulfoxides and pyridine-N-oxides using the iron powder in the presence of H2O–CO2 to sulfides and pyridines, respectively. Notably, H2O is employed as the terminal hydrogen source, and CO2 could enhance hydrogen generation through in situ formation of carbonic acid. Thus carbonic acid offers simple neutralization by depressurizing CO2 and the system can eliminate unwanted byproducts. The high generality and chemo-selectivity of this protocol were demonstrated by the scope of substrates, in which chlorine, vinyl group and benzene ring can be tolerated.