Al-MCM-41 as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst in the acetalization of cyclohexanone with methanol, ethylene glycol and pentaerythritol

Mesoporous Al-MCM-41 molecular sieves in the Si/Al ratios 25, 50, 75 and 100 were synthesized under hydrothermal condition. They were characterised using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR and BET surface area analyser. The catalytic activity of these materials was tested for the slurry phase acetalization of cyclohexanone with methanol (MET), ethylene glycol (EG) and pentaerythritol (PEN) at 40–120 °C. MET conversion was found to be higher than that of EG and PEN. Hydrophobic property of catalyst and alcohols and also the steric properties of alcohols were suggested to play an important role in the acetalization. For MET and EG, Al-MCM-41 (100) was found to be more active than other catalyst but for PEN, Al-MCM-41 (25) was found to be more active. The reaction was also studied over H3PW12O40 supported MCM-41, commercially available heteropolyacid (H3PW12O40·nH2O) and zeolites (HM, Hβ and ZSM-5). Zeolites showed less activity for EG, PEN but comparable activity to MET. The requirement of Brönsted acid sites for the reaction was clearly established by running the reaction in the absence of catalyst.

Graphical abstractMesoporous Al-MCM-41 molecular sieves in the Si/Al ratios 25, 50, 75 and 100 were synthesized under hydrothermal condition. The catalytic activity of these materials was tested for the slurry phase acetalization of cyclohexanone with methanol (MET), ethylene glycol (EG) and pentaerythritol (PEN) at 40–120 °C. This process is an efficient, clean, economic and solvent less technique, inconstrast to conventional method, where the standard conditions for acetalization often fail for diaryl ketones, making the desired compounds available only via indirect routes. Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide