(544bs) Tuning Parameters for Tertiary Amine Catalysts Grafted on Mesoporous Silica for Knoevenagel Condensation

Tuned cooperative interactions in enzymes fascinatingly depict nature’s complexity and inspire the design of novel catalytic materials. The current work highlights a special class of heterogeneous bifunctional catalysts, consisting of tertiary amines grafted on mesoporous silica support, that are recyclable and reusable, and have enhanced activity owing to dual catalytic activation from amines and silanols present on silica surface. The Knoevenagel condensation, an industrially relevant reaction with applications in the pharmaceutical and perfume industry, is used as a test reaction to observe the impact of silica micro-porosity and optimize the alkyl linker length of the tertiary amines for this catalyst to get maximum rate by wielding its potential for acid-base cooperativity. This is aimed to be accomplished through three steps: (i) Functionalization of amine organo-silane with varying alkyl linker length on regular and low micropore silica, (ii) Material characterization using thermo-gravimetric analysis, nitrogen physisorption, and the elemental analysis, and (iii) Kinetic testing of the synthesized catalysts for Knoevenagel condensation. With this, it is targeted to design an industrially lucrative catalyst with superior activity for the Knoevenagel condensation and simultaneously gain fundamental insight into amine-silanol interactions that promote cooperative catalysis in the current system.