The carbonylation of amines with propargylic alcohol using CO2 as carbonyl source to yield N-substituted 4-methylene-2-oxazolidinones could efficiently proceed in ionic liquids, and various 4-methylene oxazolidinones with high yields could be obtained under relatively mild conditions. This result showed that ionic liquid might be an effective catalyst and reaction medium for the activation of CO2, which also offered a new way to the chemical fixation of CO2.

★★★★☆ Q. Zhang et al. / Tetrahedron Letters 46 (2005) 5907–5911.