Zeolite-Like Metal Organic Framework (ZMOF) with a <i>rho</i> Topology for a CO<sub>2</sub> Cycloaddition to Epoxides
Siqian Zhang, Min‐Seok Jang, Jinwon Lee, Pillaiyar Puthiaraj, Wha‐Seung Ahn
Abstract
The catalytic performances of two zeolite-like metal organic frameworks (rho-ZMOF and sod-ZMOF) were examined for the synthesis of chloropropene carbonate from CO2 and epichlorohydrin. rho-ZMOF exhibited superior catalytic activity compared to that of sod-ZMOF; rho-ZMOF achieved an excellent result of 98.0% conversion of epichlorohydrin with a 98.6% selectivity to the cyclic carbonate with tetrabutylammonium bromide as a cocatalyst after a 3 h reaction at 40 °C and 10 bar. rho-ZMOF retained good catalytic performance for up to five recycling runs without a loss in catalytic activity, whereas sod-ZMOF showed structural collapse during the recycling runs, which was similar to many other reported metal organic frameworks, such as ZIF-8. The high stability of rho-ZMOF for the liquid phase cycloaddition reaction was noteworthy and was believed to be derived from its more robust metal–ligand bonding in which the metal sites were coordinated by four bidentate ligands, rather than just the two found in sod-ZMOF with a coordination number of six.