Surface Active Ionic Liquids as Catalyst for CO2 Conversion to Propylene Carbonate

CO 2 capture is an efficient possibility to mitigate environmental impacts. An efficient transformation of CO 2 into useful chemicals is a need from environmental protection and resource utilization viewpoint. Cyclic carbonates, such as propylene carbonate is used in numerous technologies. We hereby report eight surface active ionic liquids (SAILs) composed of the well-known cations ([bmim + ] and [TBA + ]) and long-alkyl-chain anions ([C 12 SO 4 − ], [C 12 ESO 4 − ], [C 12 BSO 3 − ] and [C 12 SAR − ]). In this work, we have studied catalytic activities of SAILs for cyclic carbonate synthesis. The work demonstrates that [TBA + ] is more active as a catalyst because the higher molecular volume increases the distance cation/anion, consequently, a weaker electrostatic interaction cation/anion results in a more nucleophilic anion. The [TBA][C 12 SO 4 ] was the SAIL that presented better catalytic activity, reaching 79.2% of conversion and 87.7% of selectivity, besides the high capacity of recycles and possible use for the catalysis of other cyclic carbonates. Graphical Abstract