Amino group functionalized pitch-based carbocatalyst for the Henry reaction of furfural

• Published in: Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers 2024-05, Vol.158, p.104801, Article 104801
• Main Authors: Bedasso, Gemechu Dadi, Tzou, Der-Lii M., Chung, Po-Wen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 2-(2-nitrovinyl)furan; Amino groups; Carbocatalyst; Furfural; Henry reaction; Pitch-based carbon
• ISSN: 1876-1070; 1876-1089
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jtice.2023.104801

•A facile nitration-reduction processes was used to functionalize the surface of mesophase pitch.•The amino functionalized carbocatalyst could catalyze the Henry reaction of furfural with nitromethane.•The amino functionalized carbocatalyst can be recycled and the amino groups are still chemically active. To transform the commodity wastes into high performance materials such as catalyst supports can facilitate the circular economy. Therefore, pitch-based carbon (MPC) which is mainly regarded as a premium carbon byproduct from the petroleum refinery was used to synthesize the supported amino catalyst for the Henry reaction of furfural. The amino functionalized pitch-based carbon was prepared by the facile chemical nitration and reduction. The surface textures of the functionalized carbon materials were carefully scrutinized by various characterization techniques, including PXRD, XPS, FT-IR, 13C SSNMR, and Raman spectroscopy. Meanwhile, the amount of surface accessible amino groups was quantified by the colorimetric method using 2-iminothiolane hydrochloride (ITL) as molecular probe. The results reveal that the surface amino groups were immobilized and quantified as 0.391 mmol/g at the periphery of MPC. Moreover, this amino functionalized carbon denoted NRE-MPC could catalyze the Henry reaction of furfural with nitromethane in isopropanol at 90 °C for 6 h to yield 2-(2-nitrovinyl)furan (NVF) as the major product in 65% with 87% furfural conversion. NRE-MPC can be also easily recycled at least four times and the peripheral amino groups alongside the graphitic domains of MPC were still chemically active with perceptible reactivity reduction. [Display omitted]