A facile catalytic synthesis of trimethylene carbonate from trimethylene oxide and carbon dioxide

The coupling of oxetane (trimethylene oxide) and carbon dioxide catalyzed by VO(acac) 2 in the presence of an onium salt was studied. The process was found to be highly selective and quantitative for the production of the six-membered cyclic carbonate, trimethylene carbonate, under very mild reaction conditions of 60 °C and 1.7 MPa. Other derivatives of trimethylene oxide were shown to similarly selectively afford the corresponding cyclic carbonates upon reaction with CO 2 . A readily available non-toxic metal complex, VO(acac) 2 , is shown to be an effective catalyst for the selective formation of trimethylene carbonate from oxetane and carbon dioxide.