The Catalytic Coupling of CO₂ and Glycidol toward Glycerol Carbonate

Ambitious environmental objectives have driven research and innovation toward the production of biorenewable chemicals, such as glycerol carbonate. In particular, the production of glycerol carbonate from the coupling of CO2 and glycidol has received considerable attention from the chemistry and chemical engineering communities. This route became particularly appealing considering that glycidol is an activated derivative of glycerol, which, together with CO2, is an industrial waste. To keep the chain of value toward high value-added glycerol carbonate as attractive as possible, numerous metal-based and organo-catalysts have been developed. We provide with this review a pragmatic overview of the most promising catalytic protocols toward glycerol carbonate reported over the past 8 years. Special attention is given to inherent mechanistic and structure-(re)activity features as key parameters driving reaction performances. This review also addresses the preparation of a selection of catalysts, as well as the global efficiency and sustainability of the chain of value toward glycerol carbonate. Such a holistic review is intended to feed inspiration for future highly efficient catalytic systems.