Adding Value to Power Station Captured CO₂: Tolerant Zn and Mg Homogeneous Catalysts for Polycarbonate Polyol Production

Using captured waste carbon dioxide (CCU) as a chemical reagent is an attractive means to add value to carbon capture and storage (CCS) and is a high-priority target for manufacturing. One promising route is to copolymerize carbon dioxide and epoxides, to prepare aliphatic polycarbonates. In this study, three homogeneous dinuclear Zn and Mg catalysts, previously reported by our group (see Kember, M. R.; Knight, P. D.; Reung, P. T. R.; Williams, C. K Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 2009, 48, 931–933 and Kember, M. R.; Williams, C. K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134, 15676–15679) have been investigated using captured and contaminated carbon dioxide, with cyclohexene oxide, to produce polymers. Carbon dioxide captured from the carbon capture demonstrator plant at Ferrybridge Power Station, U.K., is applied for the efficient production of poly(cyclohexylene carbonate). Remarkably, the dinuclear Zn and Mg catalysts display nearly equivalent turnover numbers (TON) and turnover frequencies (TOF) using captured CO2 versus tho...