Synthesis of Organic Carbonates Using NAP-MgO

Significance

The direct condensation of various aromatic, cyclic, heterocyclic, and aliphatic alcohols with excess amount of diethyl carbonate was carried out in the presence of nanocrystalline magnesium oxide (NAP-MgO) under solvent-free conditions to give the corresponding unsymmetrical organic carbonates in 88-99% yield and 96-100% selectivity. The catalyst NAP-MgO can be recovered by simple centrifugation and reused after re-activation (N₂, 250 °C, 60 min) to exhibit consistent activity for four cycles.