Magnesium oxide as an efficient catalyst for CO2 fixation and N-formylation reactions under ambient conditions

Abstract

Chemical fixation of CO2 into fine chemicals is one of the key areas of research today to mitigate greenhouse gas CO2 and its successful utilization as C1 building block. Nanocrystalline MgO has been synthesized by simple precipitation method followed by calcination at 450 °C. The materials are characterized thoroughly by several instrumental tools, which suggested the presence of mesoscopic void space and excellent catalytic activity for the synthesis of organic cyclic carbonates by chemical fixation of CO2 on a wide range of epoxides at atmospheric pressure and room temperature within a short reaction time. Maximum product yields upto 99% for the cyclic carbonates are observed. It also displayed a high catalytic activity in the N-formylation of various amines by using formic acid as reagent (acts both as carbon source and reducing agent) at room temperature with excellent product yields upto 99.5%. This nanocrystalline MgO material showed high recycling efficiency for the cycloaddition of CO2 onto the epoxides and no sign of catalyst deactivation.