The catalytic activity of secondary amines supported on mesoporous silica for the self-condensation of n-butanal to 2-ethylhexenal can be altered significantly by controlling the Brønsted acidity of M--OH species present on the surface of the support. In this study, M--OH (M=Sn, Zr, Ti, and Al) groups were doped onto the surface of SBA-15, a mesoporous silica, prior to grafting secondary propyl amine groups on to the support surface. The catalytic activity was found to depend critically on the synthesis procedure, the nature and amount of metal species introduced and the spatial separation between the acidic sites and amine groups. DFT analysis of the reaction pathway indicates that, for weak Brønsted acid groups, such as Si--OH, the rate-limiting step is C--C bond formation, whereas for stronger Brønsted acid groups, such as Ti and Al, hydrolysis of iminium species produced upon C--C bond formation is the rate-limiting step. Theoretical analysis shows further that the apparent activation energy decreases with increasing Brønsted acidity of the M--OH groups, consistent with experimental observation.

A highly efficient solid-base organocatalyst for the gas-phase aldol self-condensation of n-butanal to 2-ethylhexenal was developed by grafting site-isolated amines on tailored silica surfaces. The catalytic activity depends largely on the nature of amine species, the surface concentration of amine and silanol groups, and the spatial separation between the silanol and amine groups. In situ FTIR measurements demonstrated that the formation of nucleophilic enamines leads to the enhanced catalytic activity of secondary amine catalysts, whereas the formation of imines (stable up to 473 K) leads to the low activity observed for silica-supported primary amines. Blocking the silanol groups on the silica support by silylation or cofeeding water into the reaction stream drastically decreased the reaction rates, demonstrating that weaker acidic silanol groups participate cooperatively with the amine groups to catalyze the condensation reaction. This work demonstrates that the spatial separation of the weakly acidic silanols and amines can be tuned by the controlled dehydration of the supporting silica and by varying the linker length of the amine organosilane precursor used to graft the amine to the support surface. A mechanism for aldol condensation was proposed and then analyzed by DFT calculations. DFT analysis of the reaction pathway suggested that the rate-limiting step in aldol condensation is carbon-carbon bond formation, which is consistent with the observed kinetics. The calculated apparent activation barrier agrees reasonably with that measured experimentally. Secondary amines come first: A solid-base organocatalyst achieved by grafting amines onto silica surfaces is applied to the gas-phase aldol self-condensation of n-butanal to 2-ethylhexenal. Silica-supported secondary amine catalysts demonstrate a much higher catalytic activity than the primary amine analogues, owing to the respective formation of enamines as shown by in situ FTIR analysis. The reaction pathway is analyzed by DFT calculations. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

The effects of chemical composition and pretreatment on Mg-Al hydrotalcites and alumina-supported MgO were evaluated for the gas-phase, self-condensation reaction of C3-C5 biomass-derived methyl ketones. We show that the selectivity toward the acyclic dimer enone and the cyclic enone trimer can be tuned by controlling the temperature of hydrotalcite calcination. Methyl ketone cyclization is promoted by Lewis acidic sites present on the hydrotalcite catalysts. XRD and thermal decomposition analysis reveal that the formation of periclase MgO starts above 623 K accompanied by complete disappearance of the hydrotalcite structure and is accompanied by an increase in hydroxyl condensation as the formation of well-crystallized periclase. 27Al MQMAS and 25Mg MAS NMR show that at progressively higher temperatures, Al3+ cations diffuses out of the octahedral brucite layers and incorporate into the tetrahedral and octahedral sites of the MgO matrix thereby creating defects to compensate the excess positive charge generated. The oxygen anions adjacent to the Mg2+/Al3+ defects become coordinatively unsaturated, leading to the formation of new basic sites. A kinetic isotope effect, kH/kD = 0.96, is observed at 473 K for the reaction of (CH3)2CO versus (CD3)2CO, which suggests that carbon-carbon bond formation leading to the dimer aldol product is the rate-determining step in the condensation reaction of methyl ketones. We also show that acid-base catalysts having similar reactivity and higher hydrothermal stability to that of calcined hydrotalcites can be achieved by creating defects in MgO crystallites supported alumina as a consequence of the diffusion of Al3+ cations into MgO. The physical properties of these materials are shown to be very similar to those of hydrotalcite calcined at 823 K.

An efficient method for the synthesis of heterogeneous gold catalysts has been developed. These catalysts were easily assembled from readily available silica materials and gold complexes. The heterogeneous catalysts exhibited superior reactivity in various reactions where protodeauration is the rate-limiting step. Dramatic enhancement in regio- and enantioselectivity was observed when compared to the homogeneous unsupported gold catalyst. The catalysts are easily recovered and recycled up to 11 times without loss of enantioselectivity.