p-Toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA)-MCM-41 as a green, efficient and reusable heterogeneous catalyst for the synthesis of jasminaldehyde under solvent-free condition

•PTSA supported on MCM-41 (PTSA-MCM-41) was synthesized and characterized by various analytical techniques.•PTSA-MCM-41 was used in cross-aldol condensation reaction for the synthesis of jasminaldehyde and its derivatives.•PTSA-MCM-41 showed excellent catalytic performance (Conversion & Selectivity) in cross-aldol condensation reaction.•PTSA-MCM-41 was recycled for 5 catalytic runs with no observable loss in its performance.

This paper reports the synthesis of p-Toluene sulfonic acid (PTSA)-MCM-41 by impregnation method and its characterization XRD, FT-IR, TGA, N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, SEM, and TEM. The impregnated catalysts were used to catalyse cross-aldol condensation of active methylene bearing aliphatic aldehydes with aromatic aldehydes under solvent and metal-free condition particularly in the synthesis perfumery chemical-jasminaldehyde and related compounds. The as synthesized catalyst PTSA-MCM-41 has displayed high efficiency (selectivity up to 91%) in catalyzing cross-aldol condensation reaction and was reusable (5 cycles) with no apparent loss in activity. The catalytic performance of PTSA-MCM-41 was compared with other catalysts viz., ZnO, proline, proline-LDH, PTSA, PTSA-zirconia and PTSA-zeolite where PTSA-MCM-41 showed better performance particularly in synthesis of jasminaldehyde.

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