Aqueous media carboxylative cyclization of propargylic amines with CO2 catalyzed by amphiphilic dendritic N-heterocyclic carbene–gold(I) complexes

We prepared amphiphilic dendritic N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)–gold(I) complexes having poly(ethylene glycol) units at the peripheral layer. By employing 1 mol % of the dendritic NHC–gold(I) catalyst, the aqueous media carboxylative cyclization of propargylic amines proceeded smoothly to provide the corresponding 2-oxazolidinone under atmospheric pressure of CO₂ at room temperature.     

Efficient synthesis of 2-oxazolidinones and quinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-diones from CO2 catalyzed by tetrabutylammonium fluoride

By employing tetrabutylammonium fluoride (TBAF) as a catalyst, the various carboxylative cyclizations of the propargylic amines having internal alkynes with CO₂ proceeded to afford the corresponding 2-oxazolidinones. In this case, it was also found that the generated 2-oxazolidinones were tautomerized into the corresponding 2-oxazolones due to the basicity of TBAF. In addition, we performed the synthesis of quinazoline-2,4(1H,3H)-dione from 2-aminobenzonitrile and CO₂ by using TBAF as a catalyst.     

Efficient and Recyclable Cobalt(II)/Ionic Liquid Catalytic System for CO2 Conversion to Prepare 2‐Oxazolinones at Atmospheric Pressure

Converting CO₂ into value‐added chemicals represents a promising way to alleviate the CO₂ derived environmental issues, for which the development of catalysts with high efficiency and recyclability is very desirable. Herein, the catalytic system by combining cobalt source and ionic liquid (IL) has been developed as the efficacious and recyclable catalyst for the carboxylative cyclization of propargylic amine and CO₂ to prepare 2‐oxazolinones. In this protocol, various propargylic amines were successfully transformed into the corresponding 2‐oxazolinones with CoBr₂ and diethylimidazolium acetate ([EEIM][OAc]) as the catalyst under atmospheric CO₂ pressure. It is worth noting that the turnover number (TON) of this transformation can be up to 1740, presumably being attributed to the cooperative effect of the cobalt and IL. Furthermore, the existence of IL enables the catalytic system to be easily recycled to 10 times without losing its activity.     

Silver(I)‐Catalyzed Three‐Component Reaction of Propargylic Alcohols,Carbon Dioxide and Monohydric Alcohols: Thermodynamically Feasible Access to β‐Oxopropyl Carbonates

A silver(I)‐catalyzed three‐component reaction of propargylic alcohols, CO₂, and monohydric alcohols was successfully developed for the synthesis of β‐oxopropyl carbonates. As such, a series of β‐oxopropyl carbonates were exclusively produced in excellent yields (up to 98 %), even under atmospheric pressure of CO₂. The silver catalyst works efficiently for both the carboxylative cyclization of propargylic alcohols with CO₂ and subsequent transesterification of α‐alkylidene cyclic carbonates with monohydric alcohols; thus this tandem process performs smoothly under mild conditions. This work provides a versatile and thermodynamically favorable approach to dissymmetric dialkyl carbonates.     

Highly Efficient Conversion of Propargylic Amines and CO2 Catalyzed by Noble-Metal-Free [Zn116] Nanocages

The reaction of propargylic amines and CO₂ can provide high-value-added chemical products. However, most of catalysts in such reactions employ noble metals to obtain high yield, and it is important to seek eco-friendly noble-metal-free MOFs catalysts. Here, a giant and lantern-like [Zn₁₁₆] nanocage in zinc-tetrazole 3D framework [Zn₂₂(Trz)₈(OH)₁₂(H₂O)₉⋅8 H₂O]_n Trz=(C₄N₁₂O)⁴⁻ ( 1 ) was obtained and structurally characterized. It consists of six [Zn₁₄O₂₁] clusters and eight [Zn₄O₄] clusters. To our knowledge, this is the highest-nuclearity nanocages constructed by Zn-clusters as building blocks to date. Importantly, catalytic investigations reveal that 1 can efficiently catalyze the cycloaddition of propargylic amines with CO₂, exclusively affording various 2-oxazolidinones under mild conditions. It is the first eco-friendly noble-metal-free MOFs catalyst for the cyclization of propargylic amines with CO₂. DFT calculations uncover that Zn^II ions can efficiently activate both C≡C bonds of propargylic amines and CO₂ by coordination interaction. NMR and FTIR spectroscopy further prove that Zn-clusters play an important role in activating C≡C bonds of propargylic amines. Furthermore, the electronic properties of related reactants, intermediates and products can help to understand the basic reaction mechanism and crucial role of catalyst 1 .     

Highly Efficient Conversion of Propargylic Amines and CO2 Catalyzed by Noble‐Metal‐Free [Zn116] Nanocages

The reaction of propargylic amines and CO₂ can provide high‐value‐added chemical products. However, most of catalysts in such reactions employ noble metals to obtain high yield, and it is important to seek eco‐friendly noble‐metal‐free MOFs catalysts. Here, a giant and lantern‐like [Zn₁₁₆] nanocage in zinc‐tetrazole 3D framework [Zn₂₂(Trz)₈(OH)₁₂(H₂O)₉?8 H₂O]_n Trz=(C₄N₁₂O)^4? ( 1 ) was obtained and structurally characterized. It consists of six [Zn₁₄O₂₁] clusters and eight [Zn₄O₄] clusters. To our knowledge, this is the highest‐nuclearity nanocages constructed by Zn‐clusters as building blocks to date. Importantly, catalytic investigations reveal that 1 can efficiently catalyze the cycloaddition of propargylic amines with CO₂, exclusively affording various 2‐oxazolidinones under mild conditions. It is the first eco‐friendly noble‐metal‐free MOFs catalyst for the cyclization of propargylic amines with CO₂. DFT calculations uncover that Zn^II ions can efficiently activate both C≡C bonds of propargylic amines and CO₂ by coordination interaction. NMR and FTIR spectroscopy further prove that Zn‐clusters play an important role in activating C≡C bonds of propargylic amines. Furthermore, the electronic properties of related reactants, intermediates and products can help to understand the basic reaction mechanism and crucial role of catalyst 1 .     

Ligand-free Ag(I)-catalyzed carboxylative coupling of terminal alkynes,chloride compounds,and CO2

Simple silver(I) slats were found to be highly efficient and selective catalyst for carboxylative coupling of aryl- or alkyl-substituted terminal alkynes, CO₂, and various allylic, propargylic or benzylic chlorides to exclusively yield functionalized 2-alkynoates. The activity is about 300 times that of the previously reported N-heterocyclic carbene copper(I) catalytic system. The ligand-free silver(I) catalytic system showed the wide generality of substrates involving both functionalized terminal alkynes and chloride compounds.     

A green approach for the synthesis of 2‐oxazolidinones using gold(I) complex immobilized on KCC‐1 as nanocatalyst at room temperature

A novel gold(I)‐containing ionic liquid‐based KCC‐1 catalyst was applied for the cyclization of propargylic amines with CO₂ to provide 2‐oxazolidinones. High catalytic activity and ease of recovery from the reaction mixture using an external magnet, and several recycle runs without significant loss in performance are additional eco‐friendly attributes of this catalytic system. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficient and eco-friendly process for the synthesis of N-substituted 4-methylene-2-oxazolidinones in ionic liquids

The carbonylation of amines with propargylic alcohol using CO₂ as carbonyl source to yield N-substituted 4-methylene-2-oxazolidinones could efficiently proceed in ionic liquids, and various 4-methylene oxazolidinones with high yields could be obtained under relatively mild conditions. This result showed that ionic liquid might be an effective catalyst and reaction medium for the activation of CO₂, which also offered a new way to the chemical fixation of CO₂.     

Synthesizing Ag Nanoparticles of Small Size on a Hierarchical Porosity Support for the Carboxylative Cyclization of Propargyl Alcohols with CO2 under Ambient Conditions

Both immobilization of Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) of very small size on hierarchical porosity supports and carboxylative cyclization of propargyl alcohols with CO₂ under ambient conditions are very interesting. In this work, we synthesized AgNPs supported on sulfonated macroreticular resin (SMR) with hierarchical pores in water/alcohol solutions. It was shown that the size of the AgNPs on the SMR could be tailored easily by altering the synthetic solutions, and very small AgNPs with narrow size distribution (1–3 nm) could be obtained in water/methanol solution. It was found that the AgNPs/SMR with small AgNPs was highly efficient and an easily recyclable catalyst for the synthesis of α‐alkylidene cyclic carbonates by carboxylative cyclization of propargyl alcohols with CO₂ at ambient pressure and temperature, which was the first work to use metal nanoparticles as the catalysts for the reaction.     

A novel one-pot synthesis of oxazolidinones through direct introduction of CO2 into allylamine derivatives

1,3-Oxazolindin-2-one derivatives were obtained for the first time through carboxylative cyclization of allylamines in the absence of any metal or base catalyst. An electron-withdrawing substituent on the allylic double bond is crucial for the reaction success. Allylamines react with CO₂ in MeCN/MeOH mixture and in scCO₂ giving satisfactory results.     

A DFT study on mechanisms of CO2 coupling with propargylic alcohols using alkali carbonates

The mechanisms of CO₂ coupling with the propargylic alcohol using alkali carbonates M₂CO₃ (M = Li, Na, K, Cs) have been investigated by means of density functional theory calculations. The calculations reveal that the target product tetronic acid (TA) is yielded through two stages: (a) the formation of the α-alkylidene cyclic carbonate (αACC) intermediate via Cs₂CO₃-mediated carboxylative cyclization of the propargylic alcohol with CO₂, and (b) the conversion of the αACC intermediate with Cs₂CO₃ to produce the cesium salt of the TA. Since the overall kinetic barriers for the two stages are comparable and affordable, the excellent chemoselectivity to the TA should be primarily originated from the high thermodynamic stability of the cesium salt of the TA. Moreover, relative to the TA, the possibility to yield the by-product acyclic carbonate can be excluded due to the both kinetics and thermodynamic inferiority. This result is different from the organic base-mediated reaction. Alternatively, our calculations predict that CsHCO₃ together generated with the cesium salt of the TA might also be an available mediating reagent for the incorporation of CO₂ with the propargylic alcohol. Compared to other alkali carbonates M₂CO₃ (M = Li, Na, K), the stronger basicity of Cs₂CO₃ and the lower ionic potential of cesium ion can raise the effective concentration of the αACC intermediate, and thus the conversion of the αACC intermediate into the cesium salt of the TA can be achieved with high yield.     

Regioselective single-step synthesis of 2-aminoimidazole derivatives

A convenient single-step strategy for the regioselective assembly of 2-aminoimidazole derivatives is herein described. Through a transition metal-free domino addition/cyclization process, the reactions of unsymmetrical carbodiimides with propargylic amines mediated by Cs₂CO₃ selectively afforded the corresponding polysubstituted 2-aminoimidazoles in moderate to good yields under very mild conditions. The regioselectivity was reversed in the presence of TEA at a higher temperature. The obtained 2-(o-iodoaryl)amino imidazoles could be easily converted to 2-(2-biphenyl)amino imidazole, 2-(o-alkynylphenyl)amino imidazole, benzoimidazo[1,2-a]imidazole and N-(imidazol-2-yl)indole derivatives.     

Silver-anchored porous aromatic framework for efficient conversion of propargylic alcohols with CO2 at ambient pressure

The conversion of propargylic alcohols and carbon dioxide (CO₂) into fine chemicals suffers from issues of harsh reaction conditions and difficult catalyst recovery. To achieve efficient CO₂ activation at low energy consumption, a silver-anchored porous aromatic framework catalyst Ag@PAF-DAB with high active phase density and CO₂ adsorption capacity was proposed. Since Ag@PAF-DAB has the dual functions of CO₂ capture and conversion, propargylic alcohols were completely converted into α-alkylidene cyclic carbonate or α?hydroxy ketone as high value-added product under atmospheric pressure (CO₂, 0.1 MPa) and low silver equivalent (0.5 mol%). Notably, Ag@PAF-DAB exhibited broad substrate diversity, high stability, and excellent reusability. By applying FTIR and GC, the key to green synthetic route of α?hydroxy ketone was confirmed to lie in the further hydration of α-alkylidene cyclic carbonate.     

A Noble‐Metal‐Free Metal–Organic Framework (MOF) Catalyst for the Highly Efficient Conversion of CO2 with Propargylic Alcohols

Cyclization of propargylic alcohols with CO₂ is an important reaction in industry, and noble‐metal catalysts are often employed to ensure the high product yields under environmentally friendly conditions. Herein a porous noble‐metal‐free framework 1 with large 1D channels of 1.66 nm diameter was synthesized for this reaction. Compound 1 exhibits excellent acid/base stability, and is even stable in corrosive triethylamine for one month. Catalytic studies indicate that 1 is an effective catalyst for the cyclization of propargylic alcohols and CO₂ without any solvents under mild conditions, and the turnover number (TON) can reach to a record value of 14 400. Furthermore, this MOF catalyst also has rarely seen catalytic activity when the biological macromolecule ethisterone was used as a substrate. Mechanistic studies reveal that the synergistic catalytic effect between Cu^I and In^III plays a key role in the conversion of CO₂.     

One‐pot carboxylative cyclization of propargylic alcohols and CO2 catalysed by N‐heterocyclic carbene/Ag systems

A series of N ‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC)/Ag systems were developed for the carboxylative assembly of propargylic alcohols and carbon dioxide (CO₂). With the catalysis of these catalytic systems, a variety of target α‐alkylidene cyclic carbonates could be obtained smoothly under atmospheric CO₂ pressure in straightforward one‐pot processes. Particularly, these reactions could be performed without any stoichiometric addition of bases or additives. Further mechanistic investigation reveals that the excellent activities are attributed to the effective activations of CO₂ accomplished by the NHCs via the formation of the NHC‐CO₂ adducts.     

Ni@Pd nanoparticles supported on ionic liquid‐functionalized KCC‐1 as robust and recyclable nanocatalysts for cycloaddition of propargylic amines and CO2

Novel heterogeneous catalyst systems comprised of a fibrous nanosilica‐supported nano‐Ni@Pd‐based ionic liquid (KCC‐1/IL/Ni@Pd) are described for the cyclization of propargylic amines with CO₂ to provide 2‐oxazolidinones. KCC‐1 with high surface area was functionalized with IL acting as a robust anchor so that the nano‐Ni@Pd was well dispersed on the fibres of the KCC‐1 microspheres, without aggregation. Because of the amplification effect of IL, high loading capacities of the nanocatalysts were achieved. The reported synthesis includes several advantages like solvent‐free conditions, operational simplicity, short reaction times, environmentally benign reaction conditions, cost effectiveness, high atom economy and excellent yields, making it a genuinely green protocol.     

Synergistic Ag(I)/nBu4NBr-catalyzed fixation of CO2 to β-oxopropyl carbonates via propargylic alcohols and monohydric alcohols

Chemical fixation of carbon dioxide under mild reaction conditions e.g. atmospheric pressure and low temperature depends upon the ability of catalyst. Herein, a synergistic catalytic scheme of silver sulfadiazine/ⁿBu₄NBr was described for the three-component reaction of propargylic alcohols, CO₂, and monohydric alcohols. This catalytic system was demonstrated effectively to provide β-oxopropyl carbonates in excellent yields (up to 99% yield with 5?mol% catalyst). The method tolerated a wide scope of propargylic alcohols and monohydric alcohols under atmospheric CO₂ pressure and solvent-free conditions. The excellent catalytic performance was attributed to the synergistic catalysis confirmed by the careful experiments.     

Tunable Viscoelastic Properties of Sodium Polyacrylate Solution via CO2-Responsive Switchable Water

Upon stimulus by CO₂, CO₂-switchable viscoelastic fluids experience a deliberate transition between non-viscous and highly viscous solution states. Despite attracting considerable recent attention, most such fluids have not been applied at a large- scale due to their high costs and/or complex synthesis processes. Here, we report the development of CO₂-switchable viscoelastic fluids using commercially available sodium polyacrylate (NaPAA) and N,N-dimethyl ethanol amine (DMEA)-based switchable water. Upon bubbling CO₂, into the solutions under study, DMEA molecules are protonated to generate quaternary ammonium salts, resulting in pronounced decreases in solutions viscosity and elasticity due to the influence of increased ionic strength on NaPAA molecular conformations. Upon removal of CO₂ via introduction of N₂, quaternary salts are deprotonated to tertiary amines, allowing recovery of fluid viscosity and elasticity to near the initial state. This work provides a simple approach to fabricating CO₂-switchable viscoelastic fluids, widening the potential use of CO₂ in stimuli-responsive applications.     

Enantioselective carboxylative cyclization of propargylic alcohol with carbon dioxide under mild conditions

An enantioselective carboxylative cyclization of propargylic alcohols and CO2 was realized under mild conditions,based on a kinetic resolution strategy,which enabled the synthesis of chiral cyclic carbonates and propargylic alcohols with promising yield and enantioselectivity simultaneously.