Progress in synthesis of cyclic carbonates under supercritical carbon dioxide

Supercritical carbon dioxide(scCO2)has been widely used as an environmentally friendly solvent to replace the conventional organic solvent in green chemical processes. Among those applications reported, the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides in supercritical CO2 has received a great interest. This review covered the recent progress in the synthesis of cyclic carbonates under supercritical carbon dioxide, with an emphasis on the state of the art of different kinds of catalysts employed in this reaction, including metal complex, quaternary onium salts, binary catalytic systems, ionic liquids, metal oxide, organocatalysts, et al. Furthermore, the advantages of supercritical carbon dioxide both as solvent and as reactant for this transformation were highlighted. From the economic and environmental point of view, organic catalysts, such as ionic liquids and quaternary onium salts, show promising potential application in the future development of chemical industry. It was also pointed out that the design and preparation of efficient and green catalysts are critical to this research field. © 2017, Chemical Industry Press. All right reserved.