TURNING AMBIENT PRESSURE CO2 INTO FINE CHEMICALS: EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL INSIGHTS

In the last decades, the direct conversion of CO2 into valuable products has emerged as a promising strategy to address the environmental challenges associated with the rising atmospheric concentration of this greenhouse gas. Despite the significant progresses, further improvements are still required from a sustainability perspective, as many reported processes involve energy-intensive conditions, including elevated temperatures and CO2 pressures, that negatively impact the overall costs. In this context, our group is focusing on the development of catalytic strategies enabling the conversion of ambient pressure CO2 into added-value chemicals. Notably, the biocompatible compound cinchonine hydrochloride has emerged as an effective catalyst for the cycloaddition of CO2 to aziridines, delivering oxazolidin-2-ones under extremely mild conditions (room temperature and atmospheric CO2 pressure). The process also benefits from excellent regioselectivity and high catalyst stability, which further increase its appeal. In addition, a detailed DFT study provided insight into the reaction mechanism and revealed the possibility of employing the catalyst for activating other harmful small molecules under mild conditions. Beyond oxazolidin-2-ones, our group is also exploring the conversion of atmospheric pressure CO2 into different fine chemicals. Preliminary results indicate a promising route to access valuable compounds such as ureas under mild conditions, and experimental and DFT investigations are currently ongoing.