N-Heterocyclic Carbene Functionalized Covalent Organic Framework for Transesterification of Glycerol with Dialkyl Carbonates

The development of a heterogeneous catalyst through the combination of novel carrier and powerful catalytic active sites is of particular interest. Herein, the successful integration of an N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC) moiety into a covalent organic framework (COF) was achieved by coupling 4,4 ',4 '',4 '''-(pyrene-1,3,6,8-tetrayl) tetraaniline (PyTTA) and equimolar 4,7-bis(4-formylphenyl)-1-methyl-1H-benzimidazole (IM) and 2 ' 3 ' 5 ' 6 '-tetrafluoro-[1,1 ':4 ',1 ''-terphenyl]-4,4 '-dicarbaldehyde (4F) followed by ionization with 1-bromobutane (C4H9Br) and then deprotonation upon addition of a base. The resulting material exhibited promising heterogeneous catalytic activity towards transesterification reaction of glycerol with dialkyl carbonate. Moreover, good recyclability granted no substantial loss of activity upon five cycles. Combination of COFs and NHCs might synergize their characteristics, thus providing more possibilities for creating new patterns of catalytic reactivity.

Automated summary

The integration of N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC) moiety into a covalent organic framework (COF) resulted in a material with promising heterogeneous catalytic activity towards transesterification reactions. The material exhibited good recyclability with no substantial loss of activity over five cycles. The combination of COFs and NHCs may synergize their characteristics and offer more possibilities for catalytic reactivity.