Self-Assembly of Imidazolium-Functionalized Zr-Based Metal–Organic Polyhedra for Catalytic Conversion of CO2 into Cyclic Carbonates

Three cationic capsule-shaped Zr-based metal-organic polyhedra (MOPs) with different cavity sizes were successfully constructed through the self-assembly of trinuclear zirconocene clusters and imidazolium-functionalized dicarboxylic ligands. Owing to the imidazolium groups in the MOPs, they show good CO2 adsorption uptake. Moreover, the halogen anions of the imidazolium groups and Bronsted acid sites (-OH) in the Zr-based knots are in close proximity, making these MOPs able to catalyze synergistically the cycloaddition reaction of CO2 with epoxides into cyclic carbonates. This is the first report of using MOPs as catalysts for this reaction without the addition of a cocatalyst.