• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.1171-1174
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• 2006

Various off-the-shelf Lewis acids in conjunction with various onium salts are screened for coupling reaction of $CO_2$ with epoxides. Among the tested ones, $VCl_3/n-Bu_4NOAc$, $VCl_3/(n-Bu_4NCl$ or PPNCl), $FeCl_3/ n-Bu_4NOAc$, and $FeCl_3/ n-Bu_4NOAc$are proved to be highly active. Propylene oxide, epichlorohydrin, styrene oxide, and cyclohexene oxide can be converted over 90% yields to the corresponding cyclic carbonates without the use of organic solvents under mild conditions by 0.1-1.0 mol% catalyst charge.