The reaction mechanism was further explored. Firstly, signal peak of hydroxyl group was detected by
1H NMR spectroscopy (Fig. S13 in Supporting information). Propargylic alcohol showed a sharp single peak at
δ = 5.28 ppm, which was attributed to the H atom signal peak in the alcoholic hydroxyl group. However, in the propargylic alcohol/DBU system, the signal peak of H changed to a wide peak, indicating that DBU could activate the hydroxyl group of propargylic alcohol to facilitate subsequent CO
2 insertion into −O···H. In addition, real time FT-IR and GC analyses were used to monitor the reaction process. The FR-IR spectra detected that the stretching vibration peaks of C=O (
ν = 1825 cm
−1 and 1685 cm
−1) and C−O (
ν = 1172 cm
−1 and 1034 cm
−1) got gradually clearer and sharper with the accumulation of time within 240 min of the reaction, confirming the process of CO
2 activation and insertion (
Fig. 4a). It was further confirmed by the GC spectrum that propargylic alcohol was gradually converted into
α-alkylidene cyclic carbonate. Moreover, the presence of DBU causes the chemical shift of the H atom in H
2O to the downfield by
1H NMR spectroscopy, which is due to their hydrogen bond association [
40]. It indicates that DBU can directly activate H
2O molecules (Fig. S14 in Supporting information). After adding water, the FT-IR spectrum monitored the stretching vibration peaks belonging to C=O and C−O gradually broadened and disappeared within 240–360 min, corresponding to the decarboxylation of
α-alkylidene cyclic carbonate and the release of CO
2 (
Fig. 4b). Meanwhile, the GC spectrum showed that
α-alkylidene cyclic carbonate was converted into
α‑hydroxy ketone as the final product within this time period (
Fig. 4c). It can be seen that the key to the synthesis path of
α‑hydroxy ketone lies in the further hydration of the intermediate (
α-alkylidene cyclic carbonate). Based on the experimental results and previous literature reports [
34,
41], we proposed the possible route for the carboxylative cyclization and hydration of propargylic alcohols with CO
2 catalyzed by Ag@PAF-DAB system as shown in Fig. S15 (Supporting information). Incipiently, the complex
1 is generated by the coaction of Ag@PAF-DAB, propargylic alcohol and DBU. The activated alcoholic hydroxyl group of the substrate further captures CO
2 with the assistance of organic framework to generate carbaminate adduct
2. Subsequently, the carbaminate rapidly attacks the activated alkynyl group, resulting in intramolecular cyclization to obtain the vinyl intermediate
3. The generated five-membered ring undergoes protonation to obtain the target product
α-alkylidene cyclic carbonate, and dissociates Ag@PAF-DAB and DBU to participate in the next catalytic cycle. In addition, the
α-alkylidene cyclic carbonate will further react in the presence of water. Water acts as a nucleophile in the presence of DBU to attach the carbonyl group, leading to the opening of the five-membered ring to generate intermediate
4. Finally, intermediate
4 is decarboxylated and tautomerized to obtain
α‑hydroxy ketone.