Interfacial Frustrated Lewis Pairs of CeO₂ Activate CO₂ for Selective Tandem Transformation of Olefins and CO₂ into Cyclic Carbonates

Abstract

Effective activation of CO₂ is a prerequisite for efficient utilization of CO₂ in organic synthesis. Precisely controlling the interfacial events of solids shows potential for activation. Herein, defect-enriched CeO₂ with constructed interfacial frustrated Lewis pairs (FLPs, two adjacent Ce³⁺···O^2-) effectively activates CO₂ via the interactions between C/Lewis basic lattice O^2- and the two O atoms in CO₂/two adjacent Lewis acidic Ce³⁺ ions. Selective cyclic carbonate production from a catalytically tandem protocol of olefins and CO₂ is used to demonstrate FLP-inspired CO₂ activation.