Light-Promoted CO2 Conversion from Epoxides to Cyclic Carbonates at Ambient Conditions over a Bi-Based Metal–Organic Framework

For traditional cycloaddition reaction between CO2 and epoxide, high temperature and high pressure are usually needed. In this work, we introduce Lewis acid Bi atom into the porphyrin ring of a metal–organic framework (MOF) structure (PCN-224) to facilitate the ring-opening of propylene oxide. In addition, light is introduced into the reaction, which enables the reaction to occur at ambient conditions (room temperature and 1 atm). Further investigations suggest that light plays an essential role in improving the efficiency, which activates the stable CO2 molecule and lowers the energy barrier of the following cycloaddition reaction. This work provides a cost-effective and efficient approach to carry out the CO2 cycloaddition reaction under ambient conditions.