Perlite-Catalyzed Chemical Fixation of Carbon Dioxide Under Solvent-free and Low-pressure CO2 Conditions.

We introduce expanded perlite as a new, inexpensive, multi-catalytic active site and effective catalyst for the synthesis of cyclic carbonate under perfectly mild, low pressure of CO₂ and solvent-free conditions. Expanded perlite efficiently catalyzes the CO₂ fixation and achieves high conversion of the main products. The catalyst and products were analyzed using FTIR, X-ray diffraction, XRF, BET, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and NMR. The catalyst demonstrated impressive output in the synthesis of various cyclic carbonates from epoxides. Epichlorohydrin had the best result and highest performance, transforming 97% of the cyclic carbonate in 4.5 h. This procedure has several advantages including mild reaction conditions, high yields, easy workup, short reaction time, reusability of the catalyst, and non-toxic catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]