Application of Fluorescent Carbon Dots as Catalysts for the Ring-Opening Reaction of Epoxides.

Considering the increased anthropogenic emissions of CO into the atmosphere, it is important to develop economic incentives for the use of CO capture methodologies. The conversion of CO into heterocyclic carbonates shows significant potential. However, there is a need for suitable organocatalysts to reach the required efficiency for these reactions. Given this, there has been an increasing focus on the development of organocatalytic systems consisting of a nucleophile and a hydrogen bond donor (HBD) so that CO conversion can occur in ambient conditions. In this work, we evaluated the potential of fluorescent carbon dots (CDs) as catalytic HBDs in the ring-opening reaction of epoxides, which is typically the rate-limiting step of CO conversion reactions into heterocyclic carbonates. The obtained results demonstrated that the CDs had a relevant catalytic effect on the studied model reaction, with a rate constant of 0.2361 ± 0.008 h, a percentage of reactant conversion of 70.8%, and a rate constant enhancement of 32.2%. These results were better than the studied alternative molecular HBDs. Thus, this study demonstrated that CDs have the potential to be used as HBDs and employed in organocatalyzed CO conversion into value-added products.