Ionic Liquid Catalysis in Cyclic Carbonate Synthesis for the Development of Soybean Oil-Based Non-Isocyanate Polyurethane Foams.

A method for obtaining non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) foams from cyclic carbonate (CC) based on soybean oil was developed. For this purpose, cyclic carbonate was synthesized from epoxidized soybean oil and CO using various ionic liquids (ILs) as catalysts. Among the tested ILs, the highest selectivity (100%) and CC yield (98%) were achieved for 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ([emim]Br).