Mesoporous silica MCM-41 as a highly active, recoverable and reusable catalyst for direct amidation of fatty acids and long-chain amines

Direct amidation of fatty acids with long-chain amines was successfully performed by mesoporous silica MCM-41, which showed the highest catalytic activity among other used homo-and heterogeneous catalysts. It was found that MCM-41 can be easily recovered from the reaction mixture followed by simple calcination treatment and reused without loss of its catalytic activity.