As more attention is focused on the emission of CO2 into the environment, CO2 produced by industrial sources such as fossil-fuel power plants can be used as a potential source for the manufacturing of useful chemicals. Carbonate synthesis is a general approach for the conversion of CO2 using epoxides. The reaction of CO2 with epoxides to produce cyclic carbonates requires a catalyst with a high surface area, Lewis active sites, and an affinity for CO2. In this study, copper-based MOF catalysts (MOF-199, Cu-BDC, NH2-Cu-BDC) were synthesized by solvothermal method under mild reaction conditions. These catalysts were characterized by powdered X-ray diffraction, Fourier-Transform infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscope, and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis. MOF-199 was subsequently used as a heterogeneous catalyst to catalyze the reaction of CO2 with epoxides to produce value-added cyclic carbonates. More than 65% conversion of epoxides (E1-E4) to the corresponding cyclic carbonates was observed using MOF-199 catalysts (C1, C2-S6, C2-S4, and C2-S6) and TBAB under mild reaction conditions. The conversion to cyclic carbonates was analyzed using 1H-NMR Spectroscopy.
