Chemical Fixation of Carbon Dioxide Using a Green and Efficient Catalytic System Based on Sugarcane Bagasse—An Agricultural Waste

In this study, an efficient, reusable, and environmental catalytic system consisting of sugarcane bagasse (an agricultural and sugar mill waste material, SCB) and KI was applied to the cycloaddition of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) to epoxides or aziridines under mild conditions for the first time. Their catalytic cycloaddition activities were found to be well correlated with the large quantities hydroxyl groups in SCB, which had a synergetic effect with the halide anion of KI. The as-prepared catalytic system also exhibited excellent cycloaddition activities for various epoxide or aziridine substrates as well. Moreover, the catalyst could be recovered and reused multiple times without obvious loss in activity. The present method represents an integrated and ideal green process for the utilization of biomass and “carbon neutral” resources, which has a high potential for large-scale fixation of CO 2 into value-added chemicals.