Zirconium triflate grafted on SBA-15 as a highly efficient solid acid catalyst for ring opening of epoxides by amines and alcohols

Metal (Al, Ti, Zr) triflate grafted mesoporous SBA-15 (AlTf/S, TiTf/S, ZrTf/S) samples were synthesized as inexpensive solid acid materials by a simple one-pot-two-step synthesis methodology. These materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction, N-2-sorption, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), in-situ pyridine FT-IR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. ZrTf/S was found to be a highly efficient and reusable solid acid catalyst for ring opening of epoxides with amines and alcohols and produced beta-amino alcohols and beta-alkoxy alcohols respectively under ambient reaction conditions. The ZrTf/S catalyst showed the highest activity, which was attributed to its high acidity compared with that of the Ti and Al containing samples. (C) 2017, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.