Highly Efficient MOF Catalyst Systems for CO2 Conversion to Bis-Cyclic Carbonates as Building Blocks for NIPHUs (Non-Isocyanate Polyhydroxyurethanes) Synthesis

The present paper describes a greener sustainable route toward the synthesis of NIPHUs. We report a highly efficient solvent-free process to produce [4,4′-bi(1,3-dioxolane)]-2,2′-dione (BDC), involving CO2, as renewable feedstock, and bis-epoxide (1,3-butadiendiepoxide) using only metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as catalysts and cetyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide (CTAB) as a co-catalyst. This synthetic procedure is evaluated in the context of reducing global emissions of waste CO2 and converting CO2 into useful chemical feedstocks. The reaction was carried out in a pressurized reactor at pressures of 30 bars and controlled temperatures of around 120–130 °C. This study examines how reaction parameters such as catalyst used, temperature, or reaction time can influence the molar mass, yield, or reactivity of BDC. High BDC reactivity is essential for producing high molar mass linear non-isocyanate polyhydroxyurethane (NIPHU) via melt-phase polyaddition with aliphatic diamines. The optimized Al-OH-fumarate catalyst system described in this paper exhibited a 78% GC-MS conversion for the desired cyclic carbonates, in the absence of a solvent and a 50 wt % chemically fixed CO2. The cycloaddition reaction could also be carried out in the absence of CTAB, although lower cyclic carbonate yields were observed.