University of Groningen Development of metal-free catalysts for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from CO2 Alassmy, Yasser

University of Groningen

Development of metal-free catalysts for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from CO2

Alassmy, Yasser

DOI:

10.33612/diss.144365536

IMPORTANT NOTE: You are advised to consult the publisher's version (publisher's PDF) if you wish to cite from it. Please check the document version below.

Document Version

Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record

Publication date: 2020

Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database

Citation for published version (APA):

Alassmy, Y. (2020). Development of metal-free catalysts for the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from CO2. University of Groningen. https://doi.org/10.33612/diss.144365536

Copyright

Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons).

Take-down policy

If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

Downloaded from the University of Groningen/UMCG research database (Pure): http://www.rug.nl/research/portal. For technical reasons the number of authors shown on this cover page is limited to 10 maximum.

Propositions

Accompanying the thesis

Development of Metal-Free Catalysts for the Synthesis of Cyclic

Carbonates from CO

2

Yasser Alassmy

1.

The use of CO2 as a feedstock for the synthesis of useful chemical products is a relevant topic of

study in the context of sustainable chemistry because CO2 is an inexpensive, widely available,

non-toxic, and renewable compound.

2.

Though we need to use higher number of moles of water compared to other known hydrogen-bond donors to reach the same catalytic activity, water is a preferable hydrogen-hydrogen-bond donor as it is greener, cheaper and widely available (chapter 2).

3.

The use of metal-free catalysts has some advantages over most metal catalysts, as these catalytic systems can be less toxic, inexpensive, readily available, and more stable towards air and moisture (chapter 2-5).

4.

Using the cyclic carbonate product as a solvent to promote the catalytic activity of organic salts with low solubility in epoxide such as PPNI is a straightforward yet creative approach to enhance the reaction of CO2 with epoxide (chapter 2).

5.

The ease of separation of a heterogeneous catalyst from the reaction mixture in liquid-phase processes, as it is the case for our Amberlite resin bead catalysts (chapter 3), is a parameter that is too often ignored in publications, even if it is actually of crucial importance for large-scale applications.

6.

Submitting publications and presenting in scientific conferences allow you to know at which stage you are in your PhD journey.

7.

Doing a PhD can be tough for your life quality, leading to stressful moments. However, you can overcome this issue by doing some activity such as sports and travel.

8.

The most interesting yet sometimes overwhelming peculiarity of Dutch culture is the ‘Dutch directness’.

9.

Everyone should always carry a jacket (rather than an umbrella) in the Netherlands as on the Dutch weather even direction from which rain hits you is unpredictable.