One-pot Construction of Nitrogen-rich Polymeric Ionic Porous Networks for Effective CO2 capture and fixation

Facile preparation of ionic porous networks (IPNs) with a large and permanent porosity is highly desirable for CO2 capture and transformation, which remains a challenge. Here we report a one-pot base-mediated construction of nitrogen-rich IPNs through a combination of nucleophilic substitution and quaternization chemistry from H-imidazole. This strategy, as proven by the model reactions of 1H-imidazole or 1-methyl-1H-imidazole with cyanuric chloride, allows for a fine regulation on porosity and physico-chemical properties, leading to nitrogen-rich IPNs featuring with abundant ionic units and radicals. The as-made networks, termed IPN-CSUs, efficiently capture CO2 (80.1 cc g-1 at 273K/1bar) with an ideal CO2/N2 selectivity of 139.7. They can also effectively catalyze the cycloaddition reaction between CO2 and epoxides with high yields up to 99% under mild conditions (0.1 MPa, 298K), suggesting their possible applications in the fields of both selective molecular separation and conversion. Unlike the previously known strategies generally involving a single coupling chemistry, our strategy combined two coupling routes in one pot appears unique, and potentially applicable to other building blocks.