Open AccessCO 2 Capture in Ionic Liquids Based on Amino Acid Anions With Protic Side Chains: a Computational Assessment of Kinetically Efficient Reaction Mechanisms
Author(s) -
Onofri Stefano,
Adenusi Henry,
Le Donne Andrea,
Bodo Enrico
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemistryopen
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.644
H-Index - 29
ISSN - 2191-1363
DOI - 10.1002/open.202000275
Subject(s) - carbamic acid , ionic liquid , chemistry , side chain , amino acid , absorption (acoustics) , yield (engineering) , combinatorial chemistry , derivative (finance) , organic chemistry , computational chemistry , catalysis , materials science , polymer , biochemistry , composite material , economics , financial economics , metallurgy
Absorption and capture of CO 2 directly from sources represents one of the major tools to reduce its emission in the troposphere. One of the possibilities is to incorporate CO 2 inside a liquid exploiting its propensity to react with amino groups to yield carbamic acid or carbamates. A particular class of ionic liquids, based on amino acids, appear to represent a possible efficient medium for CO 2 capture because, at difference with current industrial setups, they have the appeal of a biocompatible and environmentally benign solution. We have investigated, by means of highly accurate computations, the feasibility of the reaction that incorporates CO 2 in an amino acid anion with a protic side chain and ultimately transforms it into a carbamate derivative. Through an extensive exploration of the possible reaction mechanisms, we have found that different prototypes of amino acid anions present barrierless reaction mechanisms toward CO 2 absorption.