Facile preparation of bi-functional iron doped mesoporous materials and their application in the cycloaddition of CO2

Two kinds of bi-functional transition metal doped mesoporous materials (Fe-HMS and Fe-MCM-41) are prepared using one-step hydrothermal method and then treated with hydrochloric acid ethanol solution. The N2 adsorption and HRTEM results show that both of Fe-HMS and Fe-MCM-41 possess mesoporous structure. The UV–vis results suggest that the Fe species are mainly located within the framework. The basicity of as-prepared samples was studied by temperature programmed desorption using CO2 as probe molecule (CO2-TPD). The catalytic performance of Fe-HMS and Fe-MCM-41 in CO2 cycloaddition largely depends on the amount of the accessible basic sites. The acid–base active sites, framework Fe and PDDA species cooperatively catalyze the CO2 cycloaddition for the production of cyclic carbonates under the condition without any co-catalyst. The conversion of epichlorohydrin (ECH) is 97.4% and the selectivity of chloropropene carbonate is 92.9% under optimal conditions. The approximate rate constant of cycloaddition reaction of CO2 with ECH under optimum reaction temperature is calculated. It is worth noting that the Fe-HMS material shows superior reusability than Fe-MCM-41. In addition, this work provides a facile way on the synthesis of bi-functional acid–base heterogeneous catalyst with outstanding catalytic performance for the fixation of CO2.