One-step synthesis of nitrogen-rich organic polymers for efficient catalysis of CO₂ cycloaddition

Nitrogen-rich organic polymer poly(chloride triazole) (PCTs) was synthesized by a one-step method as metal-halogen-free heterogeneous catalyst for the solvent-free CO₂ cycloaddition. PCTs had abundant nitrogen sites and hydrogen bond donors, exhibited great activity for the cycloaddition of CO₂ and epichlorohydrin, and achieved 99.6% yield of chloropropene carbonate under the conditions of 110 ℃, 6 h, and 0.5 MPa CO₂. The activation of epoxides and CO₂ by hydrogen bond donor and nitrogen sites was further explained by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In summary, this study showed that nitrogen-rich organic polymer is a versatile platform for CO₂ cycloaddition, and this paper provides a reference for the design of CO₂ cycloaddition catalysts.