Recent progress on CO2 cycloaddition with epoxide catalyzed by ZIFs and ZIFs-based materials

With the intensification of ecological environment problems and the improvement of public awareness of ecological civilization construction, as well as the global warming and climate change caused by excess CO2 in the atmosphere, the problem of excessive CO2 emission has received extensive attention globally in recent years and researchers have focused their attention on the technology of CO2 capture, utilization and storage (CCUS). CO2 cycloaddition with epoxide, as an efficient approach to fix and convert CO2, can solve the environmental concerns and reduce the dependence on fossil fuels simultaneously, is a promising way for CO2 utilization. The CO2 cycloaddition process usually requires catalysts, and zeolite-like imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) have received extensive attention as a novel and effective catalyst due to its unique physical and chemical properties. Many ZIFs based or derived catalysts with different structures and functions have been developed to achieve efficient catalysis of CO2 cycloaddition with epoxide. In addition, effects have been made to design suitable catalytic materials and reveal the process mechanism, thus promote the industrialization of the process. In this paper, the recent research progress in the use of ZIFs based or derived catalysts to catalyze this reaction is reviewed, with emphasis on the design, mechanism for the catalysis, as well as the challenges and future prospect for the catalytic system.