Morphology of ZnO triggered versatile catalytic reactions towards CO2 fixation and acylation of amines at optimized reaction conditions

•Hollow ZnO nanosphere with a porous exterior was synthesized to use as heterogeneous catalyst to form cyclic carbonate by CO2 insertion in epoxides.•Pore on ZnO surface acted as adsorbent of CO2 and provided C1 building block for cyclic carbonate. CO2 fixation had 99% yield at optimized condition.•To check the versatility of ZnO catalysts, it is used for the acylation of various amines too in presence of acetic acid in solvent free condition.•The material was well characterized by various characterization techniques before and after catalysis.