Air-Stable Cobalt(III) and Chromium(III) Complexes as Single-Component Catalysts for the Activation of Carbon Dioxide and Epoxides

Abstract

Cobalt(III) and chromium(III) salophen chloride complexes were synthesized and tested for the cycloaddition of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) with epoxides to obtain cyclic carbonates. The cat1, cat2, cat4, and cat5 complexes presented high catalytic activity without cocatalysts and are solvent-free at 100 °C, 8 bar, and 9 h. At these conditions, the terminal epoxides (1a−1k) were successfully converted into the corresponding cyclic carbonates with a maximum conversion of ∼99%. Moreover, cat5 was highlighted due to its capability of opening internal epoxides such as limonene oxide (1l) with a 36% conversion to limonene carbonate (2l), and from cyclohexene oxide (1m), cyclic trans-cyclohexene carbonate (2m) and poly(cyclohexene carbonate) were obtained with 15% and 85% selectivity, respectively. A study of the coupling reaction mechanism was proposed with the aid of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) analysis, confirming the single-component behavior of the complexes through their ionization due to epoxide coordination. In addition, crystallographic analysis of cat1 single crystals grown in a saturated solution of pyridine helped to demonstrate that the substitution of chloride ion by pyridine ligands to form an octahedral coordination occurs (Py-cat1), supporting the proposed mechanism. Also, a recyclability study was performed for cat5, and a total turnover number of 952 was obtained with only minor losses in catalytic activity after five cycles.