ZIF-8 Porous Liquids with Different Sterically Hindered Solvents and Porous Guests for Catalytic Conversion of Carbon Dioxide

Utilizing carbon dioxide (CO₂) as a raw material is an effective way to reduce carbon emissions, and developing catalytic systems with high catalytic activity and stability is crucial for the efficient utilization of CO₂. Porous liquids (PLs) with both permanent pores and fluidity have great potential in the fields of catalysis, gas sorption, and storage. Nevertheless, the catalytic performance of PLs is affected by many factors; therefore, further study is needed. Herein, we proposed a general strategy to construct a series of type III PLs with different chemical structures of sterically hindered solvents and different microstructures of porous guests. Benefiting from the unique microstructures, the as-prepared PLs exhibit great potential in catalyzing the reaction of CO₂ with propylene oxide under suitable conditions. Moreover, their catalytic activity exceeds that of pure sterically hindered solvents without a porous guest loading. The influences of the nucleophilicity of the anion of the sterically hindered solvent and the microstructure of the porous guests on the catalytic activity and the catalytic stability of the PLs were analyzed. Meanwhile, the mechanism of the catalytic conversion of CO₂ was proposed, which is of great significance for the design and development of the subsequent PL catalysts.