Pd-loaded hierarchical titanosilicalite-1 catalysts on CO2 cycloaddition with epoxides: Experimental and DFT investigations

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the major greenhouse gases that has been increasing rapidly. This has caused directly impacts both humans and the environment. Therefore, the process for converting CO2 into many value-added chemicals can be beneficial because it cannot only reduce the growing CO2 but also accomplish the carbon cyclic utilization. One of the interesting chemical products is cyclic carbonates, which can be used in the field of chemical processes such as precursors for synthesizing polycarbonates, solvents, electrolytes in battery, and additives in pharmaceuticals and petroleum. This research focuses on converting carbon dioxide into cyclic carbonates via cycloaddition reactions of CO2 and epoxides using Pd-loaded hierarchical titanosilicalite-1 as heterogeneous catalyst. This catalyst exhibited high catalytic activity with 85% conversions for at least five consecutive cycles without significant loss in catalytic activity.