Synthesis of cyclic carbonates by ruthenium(VI) bis -imido porphyrin/TBACl-catalyzed reaction of epoxide with CO2

The catalytic activity of the ruthenium(VI) bis-imido porphyrin complex/TBACl binary system in promoting the CO2 cycloaddition to epoxides forming cyclic carbonates is here reported. The system was very efficient in catalyzing the conversion of differently substituted epoxides under mild experimental conditions (100 °C and 0.6 MPa of CO2). Even if the sole TBACl resulted active under the optimized experimental conditions, the addition of ruthenium species was fundamental to maximizing the reaction productivity both in terms of epoxide conversions and cyclic carbonate selectivities. A preliminary mechanistic study indicated a positive role of ruthenium imido nitrogen atom in activating carbon dioxide.