One-Pot Synthesis of Ionic Porous Organic Polymers for Efficient Catalytic Conversion of CO ₂ into Cyclic Carbonates

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is not only a major greenhouse gas but also an abundant and nontoxic C1 resource. The cycloaddition of CO2 with epoxides to synthesize cyclic carbonates provides 100% atom economy, and the development of efficient catalysts is of crucial importance. Among diverse catalysts, ionic porous organic polymers (IPOPs) have emerged as ideal candidates for integrating CO2 capture and conversion due to their inherent porosity and ionic active sites. However, they still face some issues, such as cumbersome synthesis steps and relatively low catalytic efficiency. In this study, we developed a facile multicomponent one-pot polymerization strategy to incorporate the superbase 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7-ene (DBU) into the framework of porous organic polymers to form a series of IPOPs. This incorporation regulates the pore environment and generates high-density nucleophilic/basic dual active sites through quaternization, significantly enhancing CO2 chemisorption and activation. The resulting IPOPs exhibit excellent thermal and chemical stability. Moreover, under mild, solvent-free conditions, the catalyst shows exceptional activity toward propylene oxide and broad substrate universality. This work achieves the efficient immobilization of DBU, offering a valuable strategy for the design of high-performance solid-phase catalysts for CO2 conversion.