The present invention provides a method for preparing a cyclic carbonate, which has the advantages of high yield, mild reaction conditions, high catalytic efficiency under room temperature and 1 atm pressure conditions, and wide substrate scopes. It is not only suitable for monosubstituted epoxides, but also suitable for disubstituted epoxides. The method comprises the step of reacting epoxides of Formula (I) with carbon dioxide in the presence of a quaternary ammonium salt and a catalyst, to obtain a cyclic carbonate of Formula (II). The reaction formula is:

##STR00001##

Some embodiments of the invention include methods of using a compound (e.g., Formula (I)) for the reduction of carbon dioxide to formate by contacting the carbon dioxide with a composition comprising a compound. In certain embodiments, the source of the carbon dioxide is air or is flue gas. Additional embodiments of the invention are also discussed herein.

The disclosed relates to a method for preparing an organic zinc catalyst used in the synthesis of a polyalkylene carbonate resin, an organic zinc catalyst provided therefrom, and a method for preparing a polyalkylene carbonate resin using the catalyst. The organic zinc catalyst according to the present disclosure includes a predetermined amount of Zr on the surface through a simple process, and thus can exhibit improved catalytic activity as compared to a conventional catalyst in the polymerization process for preparing a polyalkylene carbonate resin.

The invention concerns a method for manufacturing of an electrocatalyst comprising a porous carbon support material, a catalytic material in the form of at least one type of metal, and macrocyclic compounds chemically bound to the carbon support and capable of forming complexes with single metal ions of said metal or metals, said method comprising the steps of: i) providing a template capable of acting as pore structure directing agent during formation of a highly porous electrically conducting templated carbon substrate, ii) mixing the template with one or several precursor substances of the catalytic material, the macrocyclic compounds and carbon, iii) exposing the mixture of the template and the precursor substances to a carbonization process during which the precursors react and transform the mixture into a carbonized template composite in winch the carbon part of the composite is chemically bound to macrocyclic compounds present in complexes with the metal or metals. The invention also concerns an electrocatalyst for electrochemical reactions, a method for manufacturing of a membrane electrode assembly using such an electrocatalyst and to a fuel cell making use of such an electrocatalyst.

A membrane includes a first layer, and a second layer coupled to the first layer. The second layer includes a network of catalytic sites, each catalytic site having a catalytic center characterized by promoting a chemical reaction of a target material. A method of forming a chemically reactive membrane includes applying a first solution to a structure, the first solution includes a macrocyclic ligand having electron-donating ligands and a side functional group for crosslinking, crosslinking a plurality of the macrocyclic ligand to form a first network of crosslinked macrocyclic ligands, and applying a second solution to the structure, the second solution comprising a catalytic center. Each catalytic center complexes with the electron-donating ligands of each macrocyclic ligand to form catalytic sites in the first network of crosslinked macrocyclic ligands.

A new family of mononuclear organometallic complexes of a divalent metal bound to sequential tetradentate monoanionic {ONNN}-type ligands, and polymerization of cyclic esters such as lactides utilizing same are provided. Novel tetradentate monoanionic {ONNN}-type ligands usable for forming these complexes are also provided.

Metal-organic framework materials (MOFs) are highly porous entities comprising a multidentate organic ligand coordinated to multiple metal centers, typically as a coordination polymer. MOFs may comprise a plurality of metal centers, and a multidentate organic ligand coordinated via at least two binding sites to the plurality of metal centers to define an at least partially crystalline network structure having a plurality of internal pores, and in which the multidentate organic ligand comprises first and second binding sites bridged together with a third binding site comprising a diimine moiety. The multidentate organic ligand may comprise a reaction product of a vicinal dicarbonyl compound and an amine-substituted salicylic acid to define the first, second and third binding sites. Particular MOFs may comprise 5,59′-(((1E,2E)-ethane-1,2-diylidene)bis-(azaneylylidene))bis(2-hydroxybenzoic acid) as a multidentate organic ligand.

The present invention provides a method for preparing a cyclic carbonate, which has the advantages of high yield, mild reaction conditions, high catalytic efficiency under room temperature and 1 atm pressure conditions, and wide substrate scopes. It is not only suitable for monosubstituted epoxides, but also suitable for disubstituted epoxides. The method comprises the step of reacting epoxides of Formula (I) with carbon dioxide in the presence of a quaternary ammonium salt and a catalyst, to obtain a cyclic carbonate of Formula (II). The reaction formula is: ##STR00001##

A moisture-curable polyolefin formulation comprising a (hydrolyzable silyl group)-functional polyolefin prepolymer and a condensation-cure catalyst system comprising and/or made from mixture of a compound that is a carboxamidine or a guanidine and a compound that is a cobalt acetylacetonate or a zinc acetylacetonate, wherein each compound independently is unsubstituted or substituted. Also, methods of making and using same, a cured polyolefin made therefrom, and articles containing or made from same. Also, condensation-cure catalyst systems useful therein.

The present invention discloses a process for the photocatalytic splitting of water using self-assembled metalloporphyrin 2D-sheet of formula (I) to form hydrogen and oxygen.