One‐Pot Conversion of Carbon Dioxide, Ethylene Oxide, and Amines to 3‐Aryl‐2‐oxazolidinones Catalyzed with Binary Ionic Liquids

Abstract

Abstract An effective one‐pot method for the conversion of carbon dioxide, ethylene oxide, and amines to 3‐aryl‐2‐oxazolidinones has been developed. This one‐pot method consists of two parallel reactions and a subsequent cascade reaction between the two products of the corresponding parallel reactions. Notably, the binary ionic liquids of 1‐butyl‐3‐methyl‐imidazolium bromide and 1‐butyl‐3‐methyl‐imidazolium acetate demonstrate a synergistic catalytic effect on this new strategy. 1‐Butyl‐3‐methyl‐imidazolium bromide is essential in two parallel reactions owing to the good nucleophilicity and leaving ability of bromide, and 1‐butyl‐3‐methyl‐imidazolium acetate plays a dominant role in the subsequent cascade reaction owing to the strong basicity of acetate. In addition, the binary ionic liquids can be used thrice without significant loss of catalytic activity.