Recent advances in the catalytic fixation of carbon dioxide to value-added chemicals over alkali metal salts

Currently, carbon dioxide (CO2) is regarded as a renewable C1 feedstock for the mass production of several products such as ureas, carbamates, carbonates, carboxylic acid derivatives, polymers, etc. Moreover, a collection of biological heterocycles with diversified frameworks derived from the fixation of CO2 are also detected. In such transformations, expensive catalyst systems (e.g. transitional metal complexes, and task-specific ionic liquids), additives, and harsh reaction conditions have been deployed, respectively. In contrast, cheap and easy-to-handle alkali metal salts have been recently explored as powerful catalysts in the transformation of CO2 at milder and greener conditions. In this review, we cover a thorough overview of alkali metal salt-mediated fixation of CO2 into different classes of value-added products. Furthermore, the detailed reaction mechanisms as well as the excellency of these alkali metal catalysts in terms of stability, recyclability are also addressed.