Catalytic Formation of Propylene Carbonate from Supercritical Carbon Dioxide/Propylene Oxide Mixture

Propylene carbonate was synthesized from supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2)/propylene oxide mixture with phthalocyaninatoaluminium chloride (ClAlPc)/ tetrabutylammonium bromide (n-Bu4NBr) as catalyst. The high rate of reaction was attributed to rapid diffusion and the high miscibility of propylene oxide in SC-CO2 under employed conditions. Various reaction periods present different formation rate of propylene carbonate, mainly due to the existence of phase change during the reaction. The experimental results demonstrate that SC-CO2 could be used as not only an environmentally benign solvent but also a carbon precursor in synthesis.