L-Serine@ZnO as an efficient and reusable catalyst for synthesis of cyclic carbonates and formamides in presence of CO2 atmosphere

Abstract

The highly efficient carbon dioxide (CO2) fixation into value-added organic carbonates has gained enormous attention in the last few decades. This work reports, synthesis and characterization of amino acids (AAs) assisted ZnO nano catalyst and Its application for the cyclic carbonates and formamides synthesis with CO2 atmosphere. The prepared catalysts are characterized by IR, SEM, TEM, XRD, DSC-TGA XPS analysis. l-Serine@ZnO exhibits excellent catalytic activity for transformation of CO2 into value-added chemicals namely formamides and cyclic carbonates. The catalytic systems which work in the presence of CO2 balloon atmosphere for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates are rarely explored. This catalytic system shows excellent activity under the CO2 balloon atmosphere for carbonate synthesis. The developed methodology demonstrates broad substrate scope as well as excellent functional group tolerance for carbonates and formamides synthesis. Additionally, the synthesized catalyst was recyclable up to five recycling runs without considerable loss in its catalytic activity, thus makes this protocol cost-effective and sustainable.