Novel and highly efficient transformation of carbon dioxide into 2-oxazolidinones over Al-MCM-41 mesoporous-supported...

A type of Al-MCM-41 supported dual imidazolium ionic liquids were constructed and efficiently used as catalysts for the synthesis of 2-oxazolidinones from epoxides, amines, and CO₂. The influence of the different catalysts and reaction parameters on the catalytic behaviours was investigated. Al-MCM-41@ILTiCl₅ was identified as the most excellent catalyst because it could efficiently promote the three-component cycloaddition of CO₂, epoxide, and amines to form the corresponding 2-oxazolidinones in high to excellent yields (84∼96%) with excellent selectivities (98∼99.7%). In addition, the recovery and reuse performances of Al-MCM-41@ILTiCl₅ were examined. The catalyst could be recovered by simple filtration and reused six times without a change in the catalytic activity. Green reaction conditions, operational simplicity, feasibility, and sustainability of the functionalized catalyst are the main highlights of the present protocol.