A process, composition, and apparatus for carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) conversion are disclosed. The CO.sub.2 conversion comprises reacting CO.sub.2 with a cyclopropenimine (CPI) to activate the CO.sub.2 and transferring the activated CO.sub.2 to generate a product of the transferring. The transferring also generates a conjugate acid of the CPI. The process further comprises regenerating the CPI from the conjugate acid.