Direct electrosynthesis of organic carbonates from CO₂ with alcohols under mild condition

Electrosynthesis of organic carbonates from CO₂ with alcohols has been carried out directly under galvanostatic condition at room temperature and normal pressure in DMF/MeCN without any additional catalyst. For the model compound methanol, the influence of solvents, electrode materials, current densities, charge amount, temperature and MeOH concentration have been investigated. Primary and second alcohols are converted into corresponding linear organic carbonates with moderate and low yields, whereas tertiary alcohol and phenol are unreactive. Moreover, cyclic carbonates could be synthesized from CO₂ and diols.