IDG seminars will be held in D300 and also available on zoom this term. Please contact for zoom details.
CO2 is considered a valuable C1 feedstock for the production of multiple chemicals that are industrially attractive. In this talk, I will be describing different non-electrochemical approaches to convert CO2 to value-added products. The first approach is developing a simple indium-based catalyst for CO2 /epoxide cycloaddition to generate cyclic carbonates at ambient temperatures and pressures. The mechanism of this reaction is elucidated using a combination of in situ IR, NMR spectroscopy, and substrate labeling experiments. The second approach is designing an indium complex supported by a half-salen PNNO ligand that contains a hemilabile pendent phosphine arm and test it for CO2/ epoxide copolymerization to form polycarbonate. Finally, numerous zinc complexes have been synthesized as catalysts for CO2 hydrosilylation reactions to produce silyl formates.