Organocatalysis represents a promising field in chemical fixation of CO2. Herein, a facile metal-free strategy was reported for the one-pot preparation of cyclic carbonates and α-hydroxy ketones from vicinal diols, propargylic alcohols and CO2. Wide scope of vicinal diols and propargylic alcohols was demonstrated to be efficient under the DBU-catalyzed conditions. A plausible mechanism was proposed, which included detailed main and side reactions under the metal-free conditions.
