Recent advances in photocatalytic CO₂ cycloaddition reaction

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a principal greenhouse gas with a substantial impact on global climate change. The photocatalytic reduction of CO₂ represents an economically viable and environmentally benign approach. This technique involves the catalysis of the reaction between CO₂ and epoxides under photocatalytic conditions to yield cyclic carbonates. Notably, this process has garnered significant attention due to its high atomic efficiency and alignment with green chemistry principles. Increasingly, photocatalysts are employed to facilitate the synthesis of cyclic carbonates, demonstrating outstanding performance even under natural light. This review evaluates the current state of research on the photocatalytic cycloaddition of CO₂ with epoxides, analyzes the reaction mechanism and key influencing factors, and provides a comparative summary of the photocatalysts developed in this domain. Additionally, this paper underscores the significance of the reaction devices. The paper explores reaction devices with potential applications for photocatalytic CO₂ and epoxides and envisions future integrations of CO₂ photocatalytic cycloaddition reactions with advanced reaction devices for practical applications in this area.