Novel magnetic carbon based solid acid for alkylation of benzene and dodecene

• The novel magnetic carbon based solid acid has been synthesized.
• The solid acid owned the core shell structure and easy accessible acidic sites.
• The solid acid showed high activities for the hydrophobic alkylation.
• The simple magnetic separation and high stability were the key properties of the process.
• The high activities for alkylation greatly enlarged the application field of carbon based acid to hydrophobic reactions.

Novel magnetic carbon based solid acid has been synthesized through the hydrothermal carbonization of glucose with magnetic cores and sulfonation of carbonaceous intermediate with hydroxyethylsulfonic acid. The carbon based solid acid owned the core–shell structure and high BET surface, which provided the easily accessible acid sites on the shell. The magnetic solid acid exhibited high activities for the hydrophobic alkylation of benzene and dodecene with complete conversion of dodecene, which was difficult for the traditional carbon based acids for low hydrophilic surface. The simple magnetic recovery process and high stability added the advantages of the solid acid. The high activities, reusability and simple recovery process were the key properties of the solid acid, which hold great potential for green chemical processes.