Turning Carbon Dioxide into Chemical Products

New Catalyst Converts Carbon Dioxide Into Chemical Products Global warming has become an increasingly pressing concern. The greenhouse effect responsible for this condition is actually a necessary process for sustaining life on Earth, but increased emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere cause the atmosphere to retain excessive heat, leading to rising atmospheric temperatures. Nature's response to this situation is the process by which plants capture energy from sunlight and convert CO2 into chemical energy and organic matter. Inspired by this natural process, the Supramolecular and Sustainable Chemistry Group at the Department of Inorganic and Organic Chemistry at Jaume I University in Castelló has developed a catalyst capable of converting CO2 into high-value chemical products, particularly cyclic carbonates. The technology, validated experimentally at laboratory scale, is currently being pursued for development and adaptation in specific applications through licensing agreements and partnerships with companies. This discovery, outlined in the fields of synthetic chemistry and environmental chemistry, will be applicable in industries that generate waste streams with high carbon dioxide (CO2) content and in industries in the pharmaceutical sector that use chiral cyclic carbonates as intermediate compounds or fine chemicals. The new pseudopeptide catalytic system allows for the production of cyclic carbonates from dilute CO2 under mild pressure and temperature conditions and in an enantioselective manner. In this way, the catalyst can contribute to the development of a circular and sustainable economy in which waste or by-products from one sector become raw materials for another. This technology enables the production of high-value products such as cyclic carbonates—important industrial chemicals used in various applications including environmentally friendly solvents, lithium-ion batteries, paints and coatings, resins, precursors for polymeric materials, and polymer processing in fine chemicals. Some of its technical advantages include that these chiral bimetallic catalysts do not require the presence of a co-catalyst; they can operate under mild pressure and temperature conditions; and they are biodegradable due to their pseudopeptide structure. These characteristics provide cost savings, reduce waste generated in catalysis, enable energy reuse (circular economy), and yield high-value chiral products. Source The work is published in the journal Chem Catalysis. More information: Ferran Esteve et al, A bioinspired approach toward efficient supramolecular catalysts for CO2 conversion, Chem Catalysis (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.checat.2022.11.021 / Provided by Asociacion RUVID / https://phys.org/news/2023-01-catalyst-carbon-dioxide-added-value-chemical.html