Angewandte
Chemie
Table 3: Cyclic carbonate synthesis using CO2 from combustion.[a]
tion of the candle, were as efficient as that with hyper-pure
CO2 gas (80–82% yields, Table 2, entries 1–3). Furthermore,
even after recycling the MEA solution 55 times, the reaction
yield did not reduce significantly (80% yield, Table 2,
entry 2). When another combustion source, methanol, was
used for CO2 generation, the reaction efficiency was not
affected either (81% yield, Table 2, entry 3). However, no
reaction occurred when the exhaust gas from the combustion
of candle was directly introduced into the reaction medium
(Table 2, entry 4), which showed that it was essential to use
the MEA solution to increase the CO2 concentration and
purity of the combustion gas. Dry ice, a general source of CO2
in organic chemistry, was directly introduced into the
reaction; however, the yield (39%) was low, presumably
due to the reaction being sensitive to air and water (Table 2,
entry 5). The substrate scope was expanded using the recycled
aqueous MEA solution (Table 2). All the reactions were run
twice, and proceeded smoothly exhibiting comparable reac-
tion yields with previously reported studies using hyper-pure
CO2 gas.[12] The reaction yields were consistent regardless of
the number of times that the aqueous MEA solution was
recycled.
Next, CO2 was incorporated into epoxides to form cyclic
carbonates to check for the applicability of this method to
other reactions.[8] There is an increasing demand for cyclic
carbonates in both industry and academia.[8,17] Carbonates are
used as monomers to synthesize polycarbonates and polyur-
ethanes.[7] Furthermore, the hydrogenation of cyclic carbo-
nates is a promising route to convert CO2 to methanol, an
excellent alternative fuel.[18] Therefore, the syntheses of
carbonates using CO2 gas from combustion sources are an
attractive route for carbon recycling. The incorporation of
CO2 into epoxides to synthesize carbonates is usually
performed at pressures higher than 1 atm.[8] Very recently,
Shi and co-workers reported a carbonate synthesis under
atmospheric pressure using commercially available N-heter-
ocyclic carbene (NHC) and ZnBr2 as the catalyst.[19] We
applied our strategy to evaluate this reaction. Although the
reactions involving NHC are usually air and moisture
sensitive, all the product were obtained in excellent yields
using the released CO2 that was captured by the MEA
solution from the combustion source (90–93%, Table 3).
Therefore, the quality of CO2 captured using the MEA
solution was sufficient to conduct even air and moisture
sensitive reactions using NHC-based transition metal cata-
lysts.
Entry
1
Substrate
Yields [%][c]
90
Entry
3
Substrate
Yields [%][c]
93
2
91%
4
92
[a] Reaction conditions: epoxides (2.0 mmol 1.0 equiv), ZnBr2 (2 mol%),
K2CO3 (2 mol%), 1,3-bis-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)imidazolinium chloride
(2 mol%), CO2 (ambient pressure) from the captured material, DMSO
(1 mL), 24 h, 808C. [b] A candle was burned for 5 h, and the CO2 from the
exhaust gas was captured in the MEA (aq) solution (70 mL, 7 m).
[c] Yield of isolated products.
comparable to that of the reaction with dry ice (96%, Table 4,
entry 2). The reaction could also be applied to other Grignard
reagents performing carboxylations in high yields (89–99%,
Table 4, entries 3–4). Notably, the use of 54-times-recycled
MEA solution did not diminish the reaction efficiency
(Table 4, entry 4).
In conclusion, an unprecedented organic synthesis strat-
egy using CO2 from exhaust gas was demonstrated. We have
validated that the CO2 generated from several combustion
sources could be used in organic syntheses as efficiently as
Table 4: Grignard reaction with CO2 from combustion.[a]
Finally, we applied our strategy to one of the most widely
used organic reactions, Grignard reaction.[20] The reaction of
Grignard reagents with CO2 using dry ice is a well-known
synthetic route to obtain carboxylic acids. We conducted
Grignard reactions to confirm the quality of CO2 captured
using the recycled aqueous MEA solution that had been used
for alkyne carboxylation. Grignard reagents are very sensitive
to moisture, as it causes protonation, and to O2 in air, as it
forms peroxides.[20] Therefore, it would be good to verify if
this strategy can be applied to highly moisture and oxygen
sensitive reactions. The incorporation of CO2 into phenyl
magnesium bromide using our set-up afforded benzoic acid in
excellent yield (98% yield, Table 4, entry 1), which was
Entry Substrate
1
Yields [%][c] Entry Substrate
Yields [%][c]
89
98
96
3
4
2[d]
99
[a] Reaction conditions: Grignard reagents (1.0 mmol), THF (1 mL), CO2
(ambient pressure) from the recycled captured material, 258C, 1 h. [b] A
candle was burned for 3 h, and the CO2 from the exhaust gas was
captured in the aqueous MEA solution (7 m, 25 mL of H2O). [c] Yield of
isolated products. [d] Dry ice was directly added into the reaction tube as
the CO2 source.
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 771 –774
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