An efficient solid base catalyst from coal combustion fly ash for green synthesis of dibenzylideneacetone

•An efficient solid base catalyst (SBC) was produced from waste coal combustion fly ash.•The synthesized SBC exhibits excellent catalytic activity and stability for dibenzylideneacetone (DBA) synthesis.•DBA was synthesized by solvent free crossed aldol condensation of acetone with benzaldehyde.

The objective of the investigation was to evaluate the catalytic efficiency of a solid base catalyst (SBC) derived from coal combustion fly ash to synthesize dibenzylideneacetone (DBA, 94% yield). The catalyst was produced using potassium hydroxide (30 wt.%) on thermally activated F-type fly ash. The physico-chemical, mineralogical and morphological characterization of the fly ash and catalyst were performed using XRF, FT-IR, BET surface area analyser, XRD and SEM-EDS. The results of such analysis revealed that the catalyst obtained was associated with strong basic hydroxyl (OH) sites that were highly suited to produce DBA by crossed aldol condensation reaction.

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