One-pot synthesis of nitroalkenes via the Henry reaction over amino-functionalized MIL-101 catalysts

Ethylenediamine moieties with different amounts were incorporated into the metal-organic framework MIL-101 to prepare the amino-functionalized MIL-101 materials, which were used as heterogeneous catalysts in the one-pot synthesis of nitroalkenes via the Henry reaction. Various reaction conditions were optimized. Under the optimized conditions, the selectivity towards nitroalkenes is extremely high in combination with nearly complete conversion of the reactant nitroalkanes. The amino-functionalized MIL-101 behaves as a true heterogeneous catalyst, can be easily recovered by filtration, and can be reused at least twice without significant loss of its catalytic performance. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.