Catalytic performance of Co 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate in the conversion of CO 2 to cyclic carbonates

This research reports on the catalytic performance of Co-BTC in solvent-free cycloaddition of CO2 and styrene oxide for the production of cyclic carbonate using tetrabutylammonium bromide as a co-catalyst. The results demonstrated that the conversion of styrene oxide and the selectivity of the product were both more than 95% under relatively mild reaction conditions (10 bar CO2, 110 °C). In addition, the Co-BTC catalyst maintained its unique morphology and excellent catalytic performance even after recycling it for three times. Co-BTC reported as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst in this work. The acid–base property of Co-BTC catalyst was investigated by NH3 and CO2 temperature-programmed desorption methods, and it was found that the acidic and alkaline nature of the Co-BTC catalyst did not changed apparently after the catalyst was recycled. So it was confirmed that the Co-BTC catalytic cycloaddition reaction was closely related to the Lewis acid–base distribution.