Synthesis of bifunctional cyclic carbonates from CO2 catalysed by choline-based systems

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/j.tetlet.2013.07.152

Easily prepared choline iodide is an active catalyst for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates through the coupling reaction of CO₂ and epoxides using low pressure (1 MPa), moderate temperature (85 °C) and green solvents (ethanol and propan-2-ol). The effects of reaction temperature, pressure, reaction time and amount of catalyst used were also investigated. The results showed moderate to high yields and excellent selectivities of cyclic carbonates with vinyl or acrylate groups under mild reaction conditions. The heterogenization of choline over a Merrifield resin gives access to a supported catalyst with good recyclability and reactivity that can be extended to a variety of terminal epoxide substrates.

Full text of DOI:10.1016/j.tetlet.2013.07.152

Accepted Manuscript
Synthesis of bifunctional cyclic carbonatesfrom CO catalysed by choline-based
2
systems
Adérito J.R. Amaral, Jorge F.J. Coelho, Arménio C. Serra
PII:
S0040-4039(13)01330-0
DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tetlet.2013.07.152
TETL 43350
Reference:
To appear in:
Tetrahedron Letters
Received Date:
Revised Date:
Accepted Date:
21 June 2013
23 July 2013
29 July 2013
Please cite this article as: Amaral, A.J.R., Coelho, J.F.J., Serra, A.C., Synthesis of bifunctional cyclic carbonates
from CO catalysed by choline-based systems, Tetrahedron Letters (2013), doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tetlet.
2
2013.07.152
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Synthesis of bifunctional cyclic carbonates from CO2 catalysed by
choline-based systems
Adérito J. R. Amarala, Jorge F. J. Coelhoa, Arménio C. Serrab,*
a CIEPQPF, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Polo II, Rua Silvio Lima, 3030-790
Coimbra, Portugal. E-mail: aderito.amaral@gmail.com , jcoelho@eq.uc.pt
b
Chemistry Department, University of Coimbra, Rua Larga, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal. *Corresponding
author. Tel.: +351 239798740 ; fax: +351 239826069 . E-mail address: aserra@eq.uc.pt
Abstract
Easily prepared choline iodide is an active catalyst for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from CO2 and
epoxides in ethanol and isopropanol as solvents. With long reaction times good yields of products were
obtained at room temperature. Substrates with cyclic carbonate and vinyl or acrylate groups were
synthesized with good yields. The heterogenization of the choline over Merrifield resin originates a
supported catalyst whit good recyclability.
Keywords: Carbon dioxide fixation, Cyclic carbonates, Choline iodide, Green chemistry
Carbon dioxide is an economical, renewable, environmentally friendly but not extensively used
carbon source. Its highly functional characteristics, non-toxicity and abundance make this molecule an
attractive chemical reagent for organic synthesis.1 Nevertheless, the use of CO2 requires an efficient
catalytic system, able to overcome the high stability and low reactivity of this molecule.2
Chemical fixation of CO2 by the synthesis of five-membered cyclic carbonates through reaction
with epoxides is an interesting synthetic pathway with industrial interests.3 These products are largely
used in organic synthesis as intermediates for the production of fine chemicals, as polar aprotic
solvents, electrolyte elements and fuel additives.4 The great interest in this reaction is evidenced by the
diversity of catalysts proposed that include organometallics,5 N-heterocyclic carbenes,6 alkali metal
salts,7 metal oxides,8 organic bases,9 ion-exchange resins,10 functionalized molecular sieves,11
phosphonium salts,12 and polymer-supported ionic liquids (ILs).13 Simple quaternary ammonium salts
(QAS) were the first catalysts used to achieve the cyclic carbonates14 and present a good compromise
between synthesis simplicity and catalytic efficiency.15
The development of green and sustainable catalysts for this purpose rely on the search for systems
that work at room temperature and low pressure of CO2 with minimum addition of solvents or additives.
Aluminium(salen) complexes of North and iron(III) complexes of Kleij and co-workers achieved these
requirements.16 However, to be applied at large-scale, straightforward catalytic solutions must be found
without the use of high pressure or temperature, and the need of organic solvents. In this perspective,
the study of QAS as catalysts in this reaction is not closed.
Choline is a biological QAS which is easily synthesized by methylation of inexpensive 2-
(dimethylamino) ethanol. This QAS has the advantage over others used as catalysts in CO2 activation
of possessing a hydroxyl group that can have a positive effect in the catalytic process.17 In the form of
chloride salt and with ZnBr2 as co-catalyst, choline display high activity for the synthesis of cyclic
carbonates from CO2.18 On the other hand, choline iodide (ChI) (Scheme 1 (a)) with a more reactive
counter ion seemed of particular interest to us.
Scheme 1. Schematic representation of choline iodide (a) and polymer-supported choline chloride (b).
Herein, we have assessed ChI as a catalyst for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates using green
solvents, low pressure of CO2 (1 MPa) and moderate temperatures (85 ºC) (Scheme 2).

Scheme 2. Synthesis of cyclic carbonates from CO2 and epoxides.
1
A set of epoxides was tried for cyclic carbonate synthesis in ethanol as solvent (Table 1). H
nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy results (see Supplementary data) show complete
conversion of substrates with high selectivity and moderate to high yields. Epoxides 1a, 2a and 3a
were also found to be good substrates for the cycloaddition reaction, affording the corresponding cyclic
carbonates in excellent yield and selectivity (Table 1, entries 1, 4 and 5). Epichlorohydrin (4a) also
exhibited good activity but gave the cyclic carbonate with lower selectivity (Table 1, entry 7).
Relatively unexplored, but very interesting substrates are the allyl glycidyl ether (5a) and glycidyl
methacrylate (6a) since the products can be used as monomers for double bond polymerization. Both
afforded the corresponding cyclic carbonates in moderate to good yield and selectivity (Table 1, entries
8 and 9). It is important to note that the terminal double bond is stable in these reaction conditions. For
substrate 7a, lower conversion was obtained (Table 1, entry 10). Besides terminal epoxides,
cyclohexene oxide was also investigated but it gives no product.
The possibility of changing the ethanol for water was investigated for epoxide 1a under the same
conditions. The yield of cyclic propylene carbonate 1b decreased to 22% but with 99% of selectivity
for the cyclic carbonate. The effect of the temperature on the reaction was evaluated. At room
temperature, only partial conversion of 1a was possible (Table 1, entry 2). Addition of potassium
iodide (KI) as co-catalyst19 significantly increased the product yield (Table 1, entry 3).
Table 1
Cycloaddition of CO2 to terminal epoxides catalysed by ChI in EtOHa
Entry Substrate
Product
Selectivityb
Yieldc
(%)
(%)
99
1
98
2d
3e
99
99
77
99
1a
2a
1b
2b
4
94
96
5
94
94
99
70
3a
3b
6f
7
8
4a
5a
4b
5b
82
96
68
86
86
94
9
6a
7a
6b
7b
64
46
10g
a Reaction conditions: epoxide (14.3 mmol), ChI (0.87 mmol), EtOH (2 mL), CO2 1 MPa, 85 ºC, 6 h.

b Relative molar amounts of the cyclic carbonate determined by NMR spectroscopy of the final mixture.
c Isolated yield of products.
d Room temperature, 12 h.
e Room temperature, 12 h; addition of KI (0.6 mmol).
f Conversion: 75%; room temperature, 12 h; addition of KI (0.6 mmol).
g Conversion: 63%.
The formation of 1b was used as a model reaction to study the recyclability of the ChI at 85 ºC and
1 MPa CO2 for 6 h. After each reaction, the catalyst was filtered off, dried under vacuum and reused
for subsequent reactions. As shown in Figure 1, the catalyst could be reused at least 3 times with loss
of catalytic activity not significant but in the 4 cycle there is a loss of activity of 20%. Some of this
decrease on the activity is related to the loss of catalyst that is used in the next reaction cycle. At final
of the third cycle there is a loss of 15% of the catalyst. The yields of the products obtained were similar
to those obtained with fresh catalyst, which demonstrates that ChI has good stability and reusability
over the reaction runs.
Figure 1. Recycling experiments for ChI. Reaction conditions: 1a (14.3 mmol), ChI (0.87 mmol), EtOH (2 mL), CO2 1 MPa, 85
ºC, 6 h.
The lower degree of selectivity observed in certain experiments are probably a result of side
reactions. Analysis of the less intense 1H NMR spectra signals enable us to come up with the
possibility of the cyclic carbonate aperture by reaction with ethanol, originating the linear carbonate
and the respective diol (Scheme 3). As shown in Figures S3-S7 (see Supplementary data), spectra
present resonances at 1.23 ppm and 3.44 ppm plausibly assigned to these structures.
Scheme 3. Linear carbonate and diol formation reaction.
Bearing in mind the problem of linear carbonate formation, we investigated the change of solvent to
propan-2-ol (IPA) (with lower nucleophilicity) in cyclic carbonate synthesis. From the data presented
(Table 2, entries 1-4), it is clear that using this solvent, high yields of products and higher selectivities
can be achieved due to the decrease of linear carbonate formation by side reaction effect. When the
amount of the catalyst was reduced to a half, the yield of 1b decreased in almost the same percentage
(Table 2, entry 6). With IPA, total conversion of substrate 7a to the corresponding cyclic carbonate
(63% yield) was achieved by addition of an extra amount of catalyst (Table 2, entry 5). Allyl derivative
5a and acrylate derivative 6a originate products with increased selectivity in IPA. Using low pressure
of CO2 or room temperature originates low conversions (Table 2, entries 7 and 8). We can also observe
that ChI activity is comparable to that of widely used tetrabutylammonium iodide (TBAI) (Table 2,
entry 9).

Table 2
Cycloaddition of CO2 to terminal epoxides catalysed by ChI in IPAa
Entry
1
Substrate
1a
Selectivityb (%)
Yieldc (%)
99
95
99
96
96
99
98
96
99
94
2
4a
70
84
59
63
53
28
27
99
3
5a
4
6a
5d
6e
7f
7a
1a
5a
8g
9h
6a
1a
a Reaction conditions: epoxide (14.3 mmol), ChI (0.87 mmol), IPA (2 mL), CO2 1 MPa, 85 ºC, 6 h.
b Relative molar amounts of the cyclic carbonate determined by NMR spectroscopy of the final mixture.
c Isolated yield of products.
d Addition of more catalyst after 6 h.
e ChI (0.44 mmol).
f Conversion: 35%; CO2 0.1 MPa, 85 ºC, 12 h.
g Conversion: 30%; room temperature, 24 h.
h Catalyst: TBAI.
The heterogenization of the catalyst through the immobilization on a polymeric matrix is the
preferable way to assess the possibility of large-scale applications, and several systems have been
described for cyclic carbonate synthesis from CO2.20 Merrifield resin with functionalized benzylic
chlorine was chosen to graft choline and originate polymer-supported choline chloride - PS-ChCl
(Scheme 1 (b)). The infrared (IR) spectrum of the product, Figure 2 (c), exhibits a broad band at 3100-
3700 cm-1 region (OH stretching frequencies of ChI) and a medium intensity peak at 1090 cm-1 (amine
stretching frequency), indicating the successful grafting of choline onto the support. A strong peak
centred at 700 cm-1 corresponding to the stretching frequency of the –CH2Cl group in Merrifield resin,
Figure 2 (b), has not totally disappeared in the PS-ChCl spectrum, suggesting partial substitution of the
available benzylic positions. Elemental analysis for PS-ChCl shows an N content of 3.781%
corresponding to 62% of active supported catalyst.
Figure 2. IR spectra of ChI (a), Merrifield resin (b) and PS-ChCl (c).
To survey the applicability of this catalytic system, we examined the cycloaddition reaction of
various substrates with CO2 and the results are summarized in Table 3. We decided to add a small
amount of KI to the system due to the beneficial effect of this ion previously observed. A blank
experiment with unfunctionalized Merrifield resin and KI was performed under the same conditions
and originate 1b in 29% final yield. The PS-ChCl/KI catalytic system was found to be an efficient
system, ensuring high yields of cyclic carbonates and selectivities for epoxides 1a and 2a (Table 3,
entries 1 and 2) but less active for substrates 5a and 6a (Table 3, entries 3 and 4). A comparison with
the homogeneous conditions was carried out using an amount of the supported catalyst equivalent to
the one previously used in homogeneous conditions and without KI. As expected, the reaction gives
less product yield (37%) compared to homogeneous conditions (84%) (Table 3, entry 5).

Table 3
Synthesis of cyclic carbonates catalysed by PS-ChCl/KIa
Entry
Substrate
Selectivityb (%)
Yieldc (%)
1
2
1a
2a
5a
6a
5a
99
99
99
96
99
99
93
76
64
37
3
4d
5e
a Reaction conditions: epoxide (14.3 mmol), PS-ChCl (0.50 g), KI (0.10 g, 0.6 mmol), IPA (2 mL), CO2 1 MPa, 85 ºC, 12 h.
b Relative molar amounts of the cyclic carbonate determined by NMR spectroscopy of the final mixture.
c Isolated yield of products.
d Conversion: 75%.
e Conversion: 65%; PS-ChCl (0.32 g) without KI, 6 h.
A series of catalytic recycling experiments were carried out to survey the regeneration ability of PS-
ChCl (Figure 3). The catalyst was simply filtered upon completion of each reaction, washed, dried and
reused. Through four successive runs, no significant decrease in 1b yields was observed suggesting
good stability and reusability. On the sixth run, the yield dropped to 66%. The addition of a small
amount of KI (0.3 mmol) as co-catalyst, significantly increased the 1b yield to near the initial values,
which points to iodide loss during consecutive cycles. An experiment to study efficiency of catalyst
reuse was also performed. With substrate 1a, a first cycle was carried out under the reaction conditions
described in Table 3. Next, an amount of substrate was added without any isolation and another
catalytic cycle was run. After four consecutive cycles, 4.4 g of cyclic carbonate 1b were isolated.
Figure 3. Recycling experiments for PS-ChCl. Reaction conditions: 1a (14.3 mmol), PS-ChCl (0.50 g), KI (0.10 g, 0.6 mmol),
IPA (2 mL), CO2 1 MPa, 85 ºC, 12 h. *Addition of a new amount of KI.
In summary, we demonstrate a simple and efficient approach using a and recyclable catalyst for the
synthesis of cyclic carbonates from CO2 and terminal epoxides. Particularly relevant is the preparation
of bifunctional cyclic carbonates 4b-6b with good yields and excellent selectivities using IPA as
solvent. The catalyst derived from choline is easy to prepare and can also be easily immobilized onto a
polymeric matrix. The supported catalyst also proved to be efficient in the cyclic carbonate synthesis,
undertaking up to eight catalytic cycles.
Experimental
Procedure for the synthesis of choline iodide:
In a Schlenk tube, iodomethane (2.5 mL, 40.2 mmol) was added to a solution of 2-
(dimethylamino)ethanol (2.51 mL, 24.9 mmol) in 20 mL of toluene at 0 ºC. The reaction mixture was
then allowed to stir at room temperature for 15 h. The crude product was filtered off and the filtrate
1
was washed with diethyl ether, concentrated and dried under vacuum to give ChI as a white solid. H
NMR (400 MHz, D2O): δ= 3.06 (s, 9H), 3.38 (t, 2H), 3.91 (m, 2H).
Procedure for the synthesis of polymer-supported quaternary ammonium salt:

A mixture of Merrifield resin (3.0 g), 2-(dimethylamino)ethanol (1.5 mL, 14.9 mmol) and DMF (25
mL) was heated at 65 ºC for 72 h. After cooled down to room temperature, the solid residue was
filtered out, washed with water and methanol and dried under vacuum at 30ºC for 24 h. Elemental
analysis: O 76.284%, C 64.167%, H 8.336%, N 3.781%.
Cycloaddition procedure for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates:
All the experiments were performed in a 50 mL stainless-steel reactor equipped with a magnetic stirrer
and an electric heater. A typical reaction was carried out as follows: 1a (1.0 mL, 14.3 mmol) was added
to a mixture of ethanol (2 mL) and ChI (0.2 g, 0.87 mmol). The temperature was raised to 85 ºC and
the reactor was purged with CO2 (initial pressure: 1 MPa). After the reaction had proceeded for the
desired time, the reactor was cooled to room temperature and the remaining CO2 was removed. The
ethanol was evaporated and the reaction mixture was washed with diethyl ether to precipitate ChI. The
catalyst was separated and the final product was isolated, dried under vacuum and analysed by NMR
spectroscopy.
Acknowledgments
1
The H NMR data were obtained at the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Laboratory of the Coimbra
Chemistry Centre, University of Coimbra, supported in part by grant REEQ/481/QUI/2006 from FCT,
POCI-2010 and FEDER, Portugal.
Supplementary data
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