Novel fluorination of polystyrene sulfonic acid resin by CF3SO3H for high stability and strong acidity

• Novel and facile fluorinating agent CF3SO3H is used to fluorinate sulfonic polystyrene resin.
• The prepared CF3SO2-resin exhibits high stability and acid strength.
• The prepared CF3SO2-resin performs well as solid catalyst in the Friedel–Crafts reaction and esterification.

A novel fluorination method derived from CF3SO3H was employed to the polystyrene sulfonic acid resin, to enhance its acid strength and stability. The as-prepared CF3SO2-resin was characterized by FT-IR, XPS, 31P MAS NMR, and chemical titration, and its catalytic performance was tested. It was found that CF3SO2-resin exhibited higher selectivity to benzyltoluene in the Friedel–Crafts alkylation of toluene with benzyl alcohol, excellent catalytic activity with 96% conversion and a good recyclability over seven times in esterification of 1, 6-hexanedioic acid with 2-ethylhexanol.

A mild and facile synthesis of fluorinated sulfonated polystyrene chloridized resin from CF3SO3H has been reported to enhance the stability and acid strength of parent resin.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide