Cross-aldol Condensation of Cycloalkanones and Aromatic Aldehydes in the Presence of Nanoporous Silica-based Sulfonic Acid (SiO2-Pr-SO3H) under Solvent Free Conditions

The aromatic aldehydes underwent cross aldol condensation with cycloalkanones in the presence of a catalytic amount of nanoporous silica-based sulfonic acid (SiO2-Pr-SO3H) under solvent-free conditions to afford the corresponding alpha,alpha'-bis(substituted benzylidene)cycloalkanones in excellent yields' with short reaction time without any side reactions. This method is very general, simple and environmentally friendly in contrast with other existing methods. SiO2-Pr-SO3H was proved to be an efficient heterogeneous solid acid catalyst, which could be easily handled and removed from the reaction mixture by simple filtration, and also recovered and reused without loss of reactivity.