Chlorine-Free Synthesis of Organic Alkyl Carbonates and Five- and Six-Membered Cyclic Carbonates

This report presents a new, one-pot, facile, selective and green method for methoxycarbonylation of alcohols and synthesis of five- and six-membered cyclic carbonates from corresponding alcohols with dimethyl carbonate (DMC) in the presence of molecular sieves without any additional solvent and catalyst. Syntheses of bifunctional structures comprising a six-membered cyclic carbonate with allyl ether and methacrylate groups, respectively, for different polymerization modes, were also achieved and showed reproducibility on up-scaling the processes.