Werner transition‐metal complex (WTMC)‐mediated mild and efficient chemo‐selective acylation of phenols and anilines under solvent‐free condition

Werner‐type transition‐metal complexes (WTMC) such as [Co(NH₃)₅Cl]Cl₂, Cu[(NH₃)₄]SO₄, Mn(acac)₃, Ni[(NH₃)₆]Cl₂, Ni[(en)₃]S₂O₃, and Hg[Co(SCN)₄] efficiently promote the chemoselective acetylation of phenols and anilines under solvent‐free condition. The results of this study clearly shows that the optimal condition for the acetylation of anilines/phenols (1 mmol) ( 2a–r ) with acetic anhydride (1.2 mmol) in the presence of WTMC (1 mmol) and two drops of H₃PO₄ on heating for 10 min under solvent‐free condition gives the corresponding acetanilides/phenyl acetate ( 3a–r ) in good to excellent yield. Furthermore, the method is simple, efficient, chemoselective, and eco‐friendly under solvent‐free condition for the acetylation of anilines and phenols promoted by WTMC by using acetic anhydrate as the acetylating agent. The simple preparation of the catalyst, easy procedure of the acetylation reaction, and simple work‐up indicate the importance of WTMC for such reactions.     

Sol–gel derived LaFeO3/SiO2 nanocomposite: synthesis,characterization and its application as a new,green and recoverable heterogeneous catalyst for the efficient acetylation of amines,alcohols and phenols

LaFeO₃/SiO₂ nanocomposite was synthesized by the sol–gel process from metal nitrates and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) as the SiO₂ source. The nanocomposite product was characterized by XRD, FT-IR, SEM, and surface area measurements and was used as a heterogeneous catalyst for the efficient acetylation of amines, alcohols and phenols to the corresponding acetates using acetic anhydride under solvent-free conditions. Among the various substrates, acetylation of amines was preceded rapidly, so that an amine group could be selectively acetylated in the presence of alcoholic or phenolic hydroxyl groups by the appropriate choice of reaction time. The catalyst can also be reused several times without the loss of activity. In addition, the catalytic activity of the LaFeO₃/SiO₂ nanocomposite was higher than that of the pure LaFeO₃ nanoparticles. The method is high yielding, clean, cost effective, compatible with the substrates having other functional groups and very suitable for the practical organic synthesis.     

Highly selective hydrogenation of acetophenone over supported amorphous alloy catalyst

Alpha-phenylethanol (PE) is an essential chemical in the field of medicine and synthetic perfumery. Therefore, in this work, we used a supported Ni–B–P amorphous alloy catalyst (Ni–B–P/SiO₂) in the hydrogenation of acetophenone (AP) to α-PE, which demonstrated excellent catalytic activity and selectivity, compared with Ni–B/SiO₂ (KBH₄ reduction of nickel salt). Ni–B–P/SiO₂ exhibited a high AP hydrogenation conversion of approximately 99%, whereas the PE selectivity reached up to 94%, which is approximately 1.4-fold higher than that of Ni–B/SiO₂ (about 69%), thereby directly proving the unique inhibition of AP hydrogenation over hydrogenation of P in the Ni–B catalytic system. The doped P in Ni–B–P/SiO₂ enhances the oxidation resistance and maintains the valence stability of Ni and B. Furthermore, sufficient experimental data were collected to determine the kinetic parameters. Based on the Langmuir–Hinshelwood model, we assumed that (i) AP and H₂ compete for adsorption on Ni–B–P/SiO₂; (ii) AP has strong adsorptive capacity on Ni–B–P/SiO₂; and (iii) PE coverage on the catalyst was negligible. Then, the dynamic equation was derived, which indicated that experimental data agree well with the dynamic model. Finally, the activation energy was confirmed to be 50.73 KJ/mol. This report will open up an avenue for the industrialization of amorphous alloy catalysts.     

SiO2和Al2O3负载的Ni基催化剂在甲烷干重整中的催化性能差异

CH₄与CO₂干重整反应对于环境保护和天然气资源的合理利用具有重要意义。SiO₂和Al₂O₃是适用于甲烷干重整反应的两种典型的催化剂载体。为了阐明这两种载体对催化剂性能的影响,本研究采用等体积浸渍法制备了Ni/Al₂O₃和Ni/SiO₂催化剂,并利用BET、TEM、H₂-TPR、XRD、TG和Raman等技术对还原和反应后的催化剂进行了表征。结果表明,由于载体的性质不同,Ni基催化剂在甲烷干重整中的催化性能也不同。Ni/SiO₂催化剂的初始活性较高,但由于其金属-载体相互作用较弱,催化稳定性较差,在800℃下反应15h其催化活性急剧下降;较弱的金属-载体相互作用使得Ni/SiO₂催化剂上的Ni颗粒较大,有利于积炭前驱物种的生成,导致催化剂快速失活。而对于Ni/Al₂O₃催化剂,金属-载体相互作用较强,Ni颗粒较小,但由于Ni与Al₂O₃生成了NiAl_xO_y物种,有效活性位减少,其催化活性相对较低,但催化稳定性较好,干重整反应进行50h其活性保持稳定;Ni与Al₂O₃之间较强的相互作用有利于形成小且稳定的Ni粒子,能减少积炭,因而具有优异的催化稳定性。     

In Situ Confined Growth Based on a Self‐Templating Reduction Strategy of Highly Dispersed Ni Nanoparticles in Hierarchical Yolk–Shell Fe@SiO2 Structures as Efficient Catalysts

Ni‐based magnetic catalysts exhibit moderate activity, low cost, and magnetic reusability in hydrogenation reactions. However, Ni nanoparticles anchored on magnetic supports commonly suffer from undesirable agglomeration during catalytic reactions due to the relatively weak affinity of the magnetic support for the Ni nanoparticles. A hierarchical yolk–shell Fe@SiO₂/Ni catalyst, with an inner movable Fe core and an ultrathin SiO₂/Ni shell composed of nanosheets, was synthesized in a self‐templating reduction strategy with a hierarchical yolk–shell Fe₃O₄@nickel silicate nanocomposite as the precursor. The spatial confinement of highly dispersed Ni nanoparticles with a mean size of 4 nm within ultrathin SiO₂ nanosheets with a thickness of 2.6 nm not only prevented their agglomeration during catalytic transformations but also exposed the abundant active Ni sites to reactants. Moreover, the large inner cavities and interlayer spaces between the assembled ultrathin SiO₂/Ni nanosheets provided suitable mesoporous channels for diffusion of the reactants towards the active sites. As expected, the Fe@SiO₂/Ni catalyst displayed high activity, high stability, and magnetic recoverability for the reduction of nitroaromatic compounds. In particular, the Ni‐based catalyst in the conversion of 4‐nitroamine maintained a rate of over 98 % and preserved the initial yolk–shell structure without any obvious aggregation of Ni nanoparticles after ten catalytic cycles, which confirmed the high structural stability of the Ni‐based catalyst.     

Solid Acid Catalysts: Modification of Acid Sites and Effect on Activity and Selectivity Tuning in Various Reactions

The effects of acidity and variation in concentration of acid sites of dodecatungstophosphoric acid (DTP), supported DTP and montmorillonite-K catalysts were studied for various organic reactions such as the hydroxyalkylation of phenols to bisphenols, intramolecular rearrangement of benzyl phenyl ether (BPE) to 2-benzyl phenol (2-BP) and selective cleavage of tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) ether into the corresponding alcohol. Both dodecatungstophosphoric acid (DTP) impregnated on silica (SiO₂) and montmorillonite catalysts showed the highest catalyst activity with 90–95% selectivity to bisphenol for the hydroxyalkylation of phenols to give bisphenol. Temperature Programmed Desorption (TPD) of ammonia and activity results of various catalysts showed that an appropriate combination of both strong and weak acidic sites in the catalyst was highly desirable for high bisphenol selectivity. A 10% DTP/SiO₂ catalyst was found to be highly selective for the cleavage of TBDMS ether into the corresponding alcohol at room temperature giving a high TON of 9.5 × 10⁵ even after the 4th recycle. DTP was also found to be a promising solid acid catalyst for the intramolecular rearrangement of BPE giving 2-BP.     

Synthesis of Highly-Dispersed Ni/Mesoporous Silica via an Ammonia Evaporation Method for Dry Reforming of Methane: Effect of the Ni Loadings

Mesoporous silica was used in conjunction with the ammonia evaporation method to prepare highly dispersed Ni catalysts for the dry reforming of methane (DRM). The effect of Ni dispersion on the catalytic performance was investigated by applying different Ni loadings. The pore structure, morphology, Ni dispersion, catalytic activity for DRM as well as the coke resistance were investigated. During the reaction at a relatively low temperature of 600 °C, all the three catalysts exhibited high stability in CH₄ and CO₂ conversion and excellent coke resistance, in comparison to Ni/SiO₂ catalyst prepared by the incipient wetness method. Among them, 10% Ni–SiO₂ exhibited the best catalytic performance with the maximum steady conversions of 62% and 69% for CH₄ and CO₂ at 600 °C, which was beneficial from its optimal Ni content and the presence of highly-dispersed metal nanoparticles confined in the mesopores.

     

Ni/SiO2-ZrO2催化剂焙烧温度对其催化愈创木酚加氢脱氧性能的影响简

采用化学沉淀法合成了SiO₂-ZrO₂复合氧化物载体,并以浸渍法制备了Ni/SiO₂-ZrO₂双功能催化剂,考察了焙烧温度对催化剂结构及其催化愈创木酚加氢脱氧制环己烷性能的影响. 结果表明,经500℃焙烧催化剂的加氢脱氧活性最高,在Ni金属中心和SiO₂-ZrO₂载体材料的协同作用下,愈创木酚转化率为100%,环己烷选择性为96.8%. 对催化剂进行N₂物理吸附、H₂化学吸附、X射线衍射分析、H₂程序升温还原、NH₃程序升温脱附与Raman光谱等表征后发现,合成的SiO₂-ZrO₂为无定形的酸碱两性氧化物;经500℃焙烧的催化剂样品的有效比表面积和孔体积均明显增大,表面酸量最多,硝酸镍分解成小颗粒的NiO较易被H₂还原,这些特性是该催化剂样品具有高效加氢脱氧活性的原因.     

铁、钴或镍助剂促进的 Ag/SiO2 催化剂上气相催化合成 3-甲基吲哚

 将铁、钴或镍促进的 Ag/SiO2 催化剂用于苯胺和 1,2-丙二醇气相催化合成 3-甲基吲哚的反应中, 并采用 X 射线衍射、H2-程序升温还原和热重分析等技术对催化剂进行了表征. 结果表明, 铁或镍助剂的加入有助于提高 Ag/SiO2 催化剂的选择性. 其中, 铁的加入能增强活性组分银与载体间相互作用, 大大促进了银在载体表面上的分散, 使催化剂的初活性显著提高. 而钴或镍的加入虽然能略微减少反应过程中 Ag/SiO2 催化剂表面的积炭, 但加剧了银在反应过程中的烧结, 导致催化剂稳定性下降.     

Co或Ni促进的Cu/SiO2-Al2O3催化剂上丙三醇和苯胺气相合成3-甲基吲哚

对丙三醇和苯胺在Co或Ni促进的Cu/SiO2-Al2O3催化剂上气相合成3-甲基吲哚进行了研究.采用N2吸附、氢气程序升温还原(H2-TPR)、电感耦合等离子体(ICP)发射光谱、X射线衍射(XRD)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、氨程序升温脱附(NH3-TPD)及热重(TG)分析等技术对催化剂进行了表征.结果表明,向Cu/SiO2-Al2O3催化剂加入钴或镍助剂改善了催化剂的催化性能,钴比镍更加有效.在催化剂Cu-Co/SiO2-Al2O3和Cu-Ni/SiO2-Al2O3上,反应第3 h,3-甲基吲哚收率分别达到47%和45%,而且催化剂经过6次再生收率仍能达到44%和42%.各种表征表明,向Cu/SiO2-Al2O3催化剂加入钴或镍助剂能增强铜和载体之间的相互作用,其结果不仅促进了铜粒子在载体表面的分散度,而且有效减少了反应过程中铜组分的流失.另外,加入钴或镍助剂还能减少催化剂的中强酸中心数,从而提高3-甲基吲哚的选择性,并且抑制积炭的形成.此外,钴助剂还能增加催化剂的弱酸中心数,促进3-甲基吲哚的生成.提出了金属铜与弱酸中心共同促进3-甲基吲哚合成的催化反应机理.     

Zirconyl triflate: A new, highly efficient and reusable catalyst for acetylation and benzoylation of alcohols, phenols, amines and thiols with acetic and benzoic anhydrides

Highly efficient acetylation and benzoylation of alcohols, phenols, amines and thiols with acetic and benzoic anhydrides catalyzed by new and reusable zirconyl triflate, ZrO(OTf)₂, is reported. The high catalytic activity of electron deficient ZrO(OTf)₂ can be used for the acetylation and benzoylation of not only primary alcohols but also sterically-hindered secondary and tertiary alcohols with acetic and benzoic anhydrides. Acetylation of phenols with acetic and benzoic anhydrides was achieved to afford the desired acetates and benzoates efficiently. This catalyst also efficiently catalyzed the acetylation and benzoylation of amines and thiols whereby the corresponding amides and thioesters were obtained in good to excellent yields. This catalyst can be reused several times without loss of its activity.     

Depolymerization of Organosolv Lignin over Silica-alumina Catalysts

E cient conversion of lignin to fine chemicals and biofuel become more and more attractive in biorefinery. In this work, we used a series of silica-alumina catalysts (i.e., SiO₂-Al₂O₃, HY, Hβ, and HZSM-5) to degrade lignin into arenes and phenols. The relationship between the catalyst structure and lignin depolymerization performance was investigated. The results showed that both acidity and pore size of the catalyst could in uence the conversion of lignin. In the volatilizable product, phenols were identified as the main phenolic monomers via gas chromatography-mass spectrometer. SiO₂-Al₂O₃ was the most effcient catalyst, giving 90.96% degree of conversion, 12.91% yield of phenols, and 2.41% yield of arenes in ethanol at 280℃ for 4 h. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy analysis demonstrated that deoxygenation and alkylation occurred in this process. The effect of solvents was also investigated and the results showed that ethanol was the most effcient solvent.     

Chemo‐ and Regioselective Hydrogenolysis of Diaryl Ether C−O Bonds by a Robust Heterogeneous Ni/C Catalyst: Applications to the Cleavage of Complex Lignin‐Related Fragments

We report the chemo‐ and regioselective hydrogenolysis of the C?O bonds in di‐ortho‐substituted diaryl ethers under the catalysis of a supported nickel catalyst. The catalyst comprises heterogeneous nickel particles supported on activated carbon and furnishes arenes and phenols in high yields without hydrogenation. The high thermal stability of the embedded metal particles allows C?O bond cleavage to occur in highly substituted diaryl ether units akin to those in lignin. Preliminary mechanistic experiments show that this catalyst undergoes sintering less readily than previously reported catalyst particles that form from a solution of [Ni(cod)₂].     

ZnAl2O4 SiO2纳米复合催化剂用于无溶剂条件下乙酸酐与醇、酚和胺的乙酰化反应简

A ZnAl₂O₄@SiO₂ nanocomposite was prepared from metal nitrates and tetraethyl orthosilicate by the sol-gel process, and characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared, transmission electron microscopy, and N₂ adsorption-desorption measurements. The nanocomposite was tested as a heterogeneous catalyst for the acetylation of alcohols, phenols, and amines under solvent-free conditions. Under optimized conditions, efficient acetylation of these substrates with acetic anhydride over the ZnAl₂O₄@SiO₂ nanocomposite was obtained. Acetylation of anilines and primary aliphatic amines proceeded rapidly at room temperature, while the reaction time was longer for the acetylation of alcohols and phenols, showing that an amine NH₂ group can be selectively acetylated in the presence of alcoholic or phenolic OH groups. The catalyst can be reused without obvious loss of catalytic activity. The catalytic activity of the ZnAl₂O₄@SiO₂ nanocomposite was higher than that of pure ZnAl₂O₄. The method gives high yields, and is clean, cost effective, compatible with substrates having other functional groups and it is suitable for practical organic synthesis.     

Selective hydrogenation of 1,3-pentadiene over mono- and bimetallic sulfidized Ni(Cu)—S/SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> catalysts

The activity and selectivity of the Ni/SiO₂ catalyst, as well as the mono- and bimetallic Ni(Cu)—S/SiO₂ systems were investigated in the selective hydrogenation of 1,3-pentadiene to pentenes. The presulfiding of the catalysts in a hydrogen sulfide flow substantially increases the selectivity to olefins in gas mixtures with a range of H₂/diene molar ratio of 2.5–10. The samples activated in hydrogen at elevated temperatures turned out to be more active. The effect of modification of the nickel—sulfide catalysts with copper, resulting in an increase in the activity and selectivity to olefins, was found. The weight ratio Ni/Cu = 4 was shown to be optimum for achieving the maximum conversion and selectivity on the surface.     

Dehydrogenation of isopropanol on a cerium-nickel catalyst

The effect of a cerium additive on the catalytic activity of a 2 wt % Ni/SiO₂ catalyst is studied. It found that under both flow and static conditions the activity of (2 wt % Ni + 0.2 wt % Ce)/SiO₂ catalyst is higher than that of the original sample; the increase in activity results from a sharp increase in the number of active sites. A change in the composition of the surface layer of the catalysts is analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It was found that the fraction of nickel decreases and the fraction of carbon increases in cerium-containing catalyst. An explanation of the change in the elemental composition of the catalytic active sites of a nickel catalyst in the presence of cerium is proposed on the basis of XPS data and previous quantum chemical calculations.     

Catalytic pyrolysis of Pubescens to phenols over Ni/C catalyst

The pyrolysis of Pubescens over Ni/C catalyst was studied at 350 °C in H₂ flow. The presence of Ni/C catalyst efficiently improved the degradation of raw materials, and produced bio-oil with high content of phenols but low contents of acetic acid, furfural and water. In the reaction, Ni/C catalyst plays the role of catalytic decomposition and catalytic hydrogenation. The existence of the carbon carrier favors the formation of active Ni in small sizes with more defects, which results in high catalytic activity of Ni in biomass decomposition and selective production of phenols.     

Synthesis of nanostructured carbon on Ni catalysts supported on mesoporous silica,preparation of carbon-containing adsorbents,and preparation and study of lipase-active biocatalysts

This work continues a series of our studies on the synthesis of nanostructured carbon (NSC) by the pyrolysis of H₂ + C₃–C₄ alkane mixtures on nickel and cobalt metal catalysts supported on chemically diverse inorganic materials (aluminosilicates, alumina, carbon) having different textural characteristics (mesoporous and macroporous supports) and shapes (granules, foamed materials, and honeycomb monoliths). Here, we consider Ni catalysts supported on granular mesoporous silica (SiO₂). It has been elucidated how the yield of synthesized carbon depends on the Ni/SiO₂ catalyst preparation method (homogeneous precipitation or impregnation) and on the composition of the impregnating solution, including the molar ratio of its components—nickel nitrate and urea. The morphology of catalytic NSC and Ni distribution in the silica granule have been investigated using a scanning electron microscope with an EDX analyzer. Carbon-containing composite supports (NSC/SiO₂) have been employed as adsorbents for immobilizing microbial lipase. The enzymatic activity and stability of the resulting biocatalysts have been estimated in transesterification reactions of vegetable (sunflower and linseed) oils involving methyl or ethyl acetate, esterification, and synthesis of capric acid–isoamyl alcohol esters in nonaqueous media.     

Polystyrene-supported GaCl3: A new,highly efficient and recyclable heterogeneous Lewis acid catalyst for acetylation and benzoylation of alcohols and phenols

A new, simple and highly chemoselective method for both acetylation and benzoylation of alcohols and phenols with acetic anhydride in the presence of polystyrene-supported gallium trichloride (PS/GaCl₃) as a highly active and reusable heterogeneous Lewis acid catalyst is presented. In this catalytic system, primary, secondary and tertiary alcohols as well as phenols were converted to the corresponding acetates and benzoates with high yields. The heterogenized catalyst is of high reusability and stability in the acetylation reactions and was recovered several times with negligible loss in its activity or a negligible catalyst leaching, and also there is no need for regeneration. Remarkably, a selective mono-acetylation of symmetrical diols can be achieved chemoselectively by employing the same catalyst.     

Polystyrene-bound electron-deficient tin(IV) porphyrin: A new, highly efficient, robust and reusable catalyst for acetylation of alcohols and phenols with acetic anhydride

In the present work, tetrakis(p-aminophenyl)porphyrinatotin(IV) trifluoromethanesulfonate, [Sn^IV(TNH₂PP)(OTf)₂], supported on chloromethylated polystyrene was prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, FT IR and diffuse reflectance UV-Vis spectroscopic methods. This new heterogenized catalyst was used for acetylation of alcohols and phenols with acetic anhydride in short reaction times and high yields. The catalyst is of high reusability and stability in the acetylation reactions and was recovered several times without loss of its initial activity and catalyst leaching.