Microwave assisted preparation of quaternized chitosan catalyst for the cycloaddition of CO2 and epoxides

Abstract An efficient method of utilizing microwave irradiation for the quaternization of chitosan (QCHT) has been investigated. QCHT catalysts have been characterized by various physicochemical methods such as FT-IR, XRD, XPS, TGA, EDS, SEM, EA, and BET. They exhibited excellent activity for the solvent-free cycloaddition of CO 2 and allyl glycidyl ether (AGE). The influences of alkyl chain length and anion of the QCHT catalyst on the cycloaddition reactivity were studied. The effects of reaction parameters such as catalyst amount, reaction time, temperature, and CO 2 pressure were also investigated. QCHT prepared by microwave irradiation exhibited higher catalytic activity than the conventional QCHT.