Tetramethylguanidine-silica nanoparticles as an efficient and reusable catalyst for the synthesis of cyclic propylene carbonate from carbon dioxide and propylene oxide

Tetramethylguanidine covalently bonded to silica was found to be an efficient and recyclable catalyst for the synthesis of propylene carbonate (PC) from propylene oxide (PO) and carbon dioxide. The catalyst was prepared, first by the coupling of 3-(chloropropyl)triethoxy silane with silica from rice husk ash (RHA), to form 3-chloropropyl silica (RHACCl). This was later grafted with tetramethylguanidine molecule to form a solid base catalyst (RHAPrTMG). The surface morphology analyzed by TEM, revealed the presence of spherical nanoparticles with an average size of 19.62 nm. The C-13 solid state NMR indicated the presence of 5 sets of carbon atoms in the structure. A conversion of 92% was achieved under the optimized reaction conditions (130 degrees C, 5.0 MPa, 8 h), with a propylene carbonate selectivity of ca. 98%. The catalyst can be easily recovered by filtration and reused for at least four times without appreciable loss of its catalytic activity. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.