ZIF-8-Nanocrystalline Zirconosilicate Integrated Porous Material for the Activation and Utilization of CO2 in Insertion Reactions

The conversion of CO2 to useful chemicals, especially to atom economical products, is the best approach to utilize an excess of CO2 present in the atmosphere. In this study, a metal-organic framework (ZIF-8) is integrated with nanocrystalline zirconosilicate zeolite to develop an integrated porous catalyst for CO2 insertion reactions. The catalyst exhibits excellent activity for the CO2 insertion reaction of epoxide to produce cyclic carbonate in neat condition without the addition of any co-catalyst. The catalyst is stable and recyclable during the cyclic carbonate synthesis. Further, the catalyst also exhibits very good activity in another CO2 insertion reaction to produce quinazoline-2,4(1H, 3H)-dione.