Tuning the catalytic activity of lanthanide-organic framework for the cyanosilylation of aldehydes

•LnMOF as heterogeneous catalysts for cyanosilylation of aldehydes.•Catalytic activity tuned by mild thermal treatment.•The efficiency of LnMOF as Lewis acid catalyst.•LnMOF with thermal stability, recyclability, short reaction time, and high yields.

Lanthanide-organic framework (LnMOF) [Eu2(MELL)(H2O)6] (1) was rapidly produced via microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis and its performance as heterogeneous catalyst for the cyanosilylation of aldehydes was investigated. The catalytic assays were performed with different aldehydes and solvents using as-prepared and thermally active (100 °C for 1 h) LnMOF material, and the results show that (1) acts as an excellent catalyst for the addition of trimethylsilyl cyanide to aldehydes with short reaction times and excellent yields. In addition, the catalyst was recycled and recovered in the addition reaction of TMSCN to 2-furfuraldehyde without loss of activity.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (138 K)Download as PowerPoint slide