Issue 4, 2017

A bifunctional cerium phosphate catalyst for chemoselective acetalization

Abstract

Acid–base solid catalysts synthesized with structurally controlled uniform active sites can lead to unique catalysis. In this study, a CePO4 catalyst was synthesized using a hydrothermal method and found to exhibit high catalytic performance for the chemoselective acetalization of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural with alcohols, in sharp contrast to other homogeneous and heterogeneous acid and/or base catalysts. In the presence of CePO4, various combinations of carbonyl compounds and alcohols are efficiently converted into the corresponding acetal derivatives in good to excellent yields. Mechanistic studies show that CePO4 most likely acts as a bifunctional catalyst through the interaction of uniform Lewis acid and weak base sites with 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and alcohol molecules, respectively, which results in high catalytic performance.

Graphical abstract: A bifunctional cerium phosphate catalyst for chemoselective acetalization

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
23 Dec 2016
Accepted
06 Feb 2017
First published
07 Feb 2017
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Sci., 2017,8, 3146-3153

A bifunctional cerium phosphate catalyst for chemoselective acetalization

S. Kanai, I. Nagahara, Y. Kita, K. Kamata and M. Hara, Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 3146 DOI: 10.1039/C6SC05642C

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements