Direct CO2 Transformation to Aliphatic Polycarbonates

Abstract

AbstractReduction of CO2 emission is an important issue all over the world, and the development of effective transformation methods of CO2 into valuable chemicals is highly desirable. Among various potential products derived from CO2, polymers are one of the promising target chemicals in terms of the production amount and CO2 fixation to solid materials. Therefore, the direct synthesis of polycarbonates from CO2 has recently attracted much attention because polycarbonates including polycarbonate diols are useful engineering plastics and intermediates for polyurethanes. There are many reports on the synthesis of polycarbonates from CO2 and cyclic ethers such as epoxides and oxetanes, however, the reports on the synthesis from CO2 and diols are limited. In this review, we summarize the recent progress of direct polycarbonate synthesis from CO2 and diols and explain the potential and issues for industrialization based on the characteristics of the reaction systems.