Porphyrin based porous organic polymer as bi-functional catalyst for selective oxidation and Knoevenagel condensation reactions

• Synthesis of Fe-containing porphyrin based microporous organic polymer.
• High surface area and bifunctional catalysis over Fe-POP-1.
• Basic sites with free porphyrin moieties in the microporous framework.
• Knoevenagel condensation of aromatic aldehydes at room temperature.
• Catalytically active Fe(III)-porphyrin sites for the selective oxidation of alcohols.

Porphyrin based microporous organic polymer Fe-POP-1 has been synthesized through a facile solvothermal method involving extended aromatic substitution of pyrrole and terephthaldehyde in the presence of Fe(III). This material has very high BET surface area and exhibits two types of catalytic sites: iron-free porphyrin moieties for base catalysis as well as Fe(III)-bound sites for slective oxidation reactions. Due to the presence of basic porphyrin macrocyclic site in Fe-POP-1, it catalyzes Knoevenagel condensation of aromatic aldehydes with malononitrile at room temperature, whereas the Fe(III)-bound site catalyzes selective oxidation of alcohols to the respective aldehyde/ketones in the presence of tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as oxidant. Good reusability and excellent selectivity makes this Fe-POP-1 as a promising and efficient bi-functional heterogeneous catalyst for the production of organic fine chemicals through the environmentally benign liquid phase catalytic reactions.

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