Acetic Anhydride Polymerization as a Pathway to Functional Porous Organic Polymers and Their Application in Acid–Base Catalysis

Acetic anhydride (AA) is usually considered a stable molecule but is shown here to be able to polymerize in closed reactors to a cross-linked polyketone condensate. By using this chemistry, it was possible to copolymerize AA with l-histidine, which gives a nitrogen-doped functional nanoporous polymer that can act as an acid–base heterogeneous catalyst. The polymer acidic and basic sites were screened by running an acetal hydrolysis Knoevenagel condensation reaction cascade to optimize catalyst synthesis. Furthermore, it was possible to catalyze CO2 cycloaddition to epoxides to the corresponding cyclic carbonate with complete conversion without cocatalysts.