DBU/benzyl bromide: an efficient catalytic system for the chemical fixation of CO2 into cyclic carbonates under metal- and solvent-free conditions

A simple, mild and inexpensive catalytic system, DBU and benzyl bromide, was developed for the cycloaddition of epoxides to ambient CO₂ under metal-free and solvent-free conditions and a wide range of epoxides was converted to the corresponding cyclic carbonates with good to excellent yields (81–95%).