Process for preparing propylene and polypropylene from CO2

A process for producing propylene (III) from CO2 comprising:

• electrocatalytic reduction of the CO2 to generate methylglyoxal (I);
• reduction of the methylglyoxal (I) in two stages, the first of which being carried out in an ethanolic solution and the second of which being carried out in an acidic solution, wherein the reduction is performed using sodium borohydride as a reducing agent to generate the corresponding 1,2-diol (II) to reduce both carbonyl groups of the methylglyoxal to hydroxyl groups;
• and
• elimination of the hydroxide groups of the 1,2-diol (II) to generate propylene (III) according to the following reaction equation:
• wherein the production of the propylene (III) from CO2 is performed without replacement of the reducing agent and intermediate purification of monohydroxy intermediate thereby reducing necessary solvent and binding more atmospheric CO2 than is released.